Another Way Round
by AnotherWayRoundWriter
Summary: [COMPLETE] What if the curse in Hyperion Heights had to be solved in a different way? What if it were Regina and Robin who had to break the curse, and what if Robin wasn't really dead or gone forever? Eventual OutlawQueen Robin (the daughter) is an OC as I started writing this before she was in S7.
1. Chapter 1 - Back To The Future

**IMPORTANT - I wrote this before Robin (as in Robin and Zelena's daughter) was put into canon for Season 7, meaning she's basically an OC in this. I may add more elements to the story where she's more similar to her canon representation but until those chapters, please bear this in mind!**

 **[ A/N: And thus it begins! Welcome to what's probably going to be a really badly written fanfiction, mainly based around fixing the mess that the OUAT writers made when it came to OutlawQueen. Wasn't originally intended for #OQFitItWeek as I'm going to be continuing this for a while, but I guess I'm just publishing this at the perfect time lol**

 **The main kind of 'goal' for this fanfic is essentially to give Regina and Robin (actual Robin, not the wish realm one) a happy ending without creating some massive AU which literally rewrites what happened in season 5. So yeah, this is essentially what I want to happen in Season 7.**

 **I'm going to include quite a few characters from the series though, so don't think it's just focused on this one ship! Minor Captain Swan, Henriella (if that's the ship name, the fandom hasn't really decided yet) and other random cute moments will also be included. I may even include some Zades, but I'm not completely sure whether I want to incorporate that yet.**

 **This fanfic is gonna be rated a 'T' (just in case if you know what I mean, no major smut though) and I guess you could say it's 'angst'. I may add some fluffy parts at the end but yknow.**

 **I would say that this fanfic contains an 'OC' , but it's actually Robin (and Zelena's) daughter (technically called Robin as well but she's going to call herself something different because plot conveniences) so yknow. The timeline may also be a little fucked but i'll explain it as sensibly as possible.**

 **Also, I'm writing this anonymously just because of the embarrassment of how shit this will probably turn out** **?**

 **And finally, I'm writing this on the 23** **rd** **of October meaning that Episode 3 of Season 7 just aired a few days ago, so mild spoiler warning for season 7 and major spoiler warning for the rest of the seasons. This may mean that if you're reading this after episode 4 or any other episodes have aired, things may have turned out very differently in the show but icandowhatiwantlol. Aaand if I make any mistakes in what's canon and what's not then i do apologise. Anywayy..**

 **That's all from me, enjoy the fanfic! ]**

|SIX YEARS AGO , STORYBROOKE|

"If you kill me, you will lose Zelena forever"

"Only if she knows about it"

Hades toyed with the crystal held in his hand. "And this.. isn't going to kill you. It's going to **end you**. No underworld, no moving on.. one minute you exist and the next you don't"

Regina stared at him in fear. For a moment she forgot that it was possible for someone to be this cruel to someone else. For a moment she doubted that he would step further. But that was when she remembered who she used to be, and that he wasn't going to hesitate.

Robin stepped forward. "This was my idea to break in here, okay? Just use that on me – let her go"

She frantically tried to stop him. She wasn't going to let Robin die, and definitely not like this.

"Oh, sorry.

Ladies first"

But just when Hades thought he'd succeeded, Robin quickly ran in front of Regina before being blasted by the blinding beam of magic.

|PRESENT DAY , HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Lucy smiled at her father's book in her hands. All of the adventures that happened in Storybrooke amazed her far more than her actual life in Seattle and she couldn't help but feel warm inside with each letter printed.

It wasn't long now. Not long until they really knew who they were and it was all thanks to her – the truest believer. As it was said in the book, heroes always win. And they were going to win this fight against Lady Tremaine no matter what they had to go through.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Lucy looked up as she heard the ghastly, ear-wrenching voice of Mrs. Belfrey. What on earth was she doing in her bedroom. Heck, what was she doing in her mother's apartment?

"What are _you_ doing here?"

"Well, I thought I would check in on you. You see Lucy, I have been rather suspicious about your little schemes recently and I just thought it would be worth having a quick word"

She walked closer and closer to the bed that Lucy was sitting on, with a deadly look in her eyes which was minorly frightening to her.

"And what's that?" Lucy asked.

She was now only inches away from her face, and Lady Tremaine suddenly began to speak. But this time, she sounded more offputting.

"Listen to me Lucy. Whatever you try doing to save your little family, it isn't going to work. There's no way that Henry can give true love's kiss. I made sure of that an incredibly long time ago."

Lucy was scared. Really scared. If her father couldn't give true love's kiss, how on earth could she get her family back together?

"So you best shut up about your silly little dreams.. and move on"

The threatening old woman slammed the door behind her, leaving the child to sit down and cry.

Detective Rogers sat down at Roni's , in the same spot he always sat. It had been another long day of police work and he couldn't help but feel exhausted after it all. But something, despite him not knowing what, had been bothering him all day.

"Hey Roni, can I ask you a slightly idiotic question?"

Roni turned her head towards him, surprised that he actually spoke up after just sitting there gloomingly for the past half hour.

"Is it about Belfrey? Because if so I don't think it would be an idiotic question.",

"No.. it's a little more.. personal than that."

Roni shrugged in surprise. "Uh, okay then.. Spill"

"How do you handle feeling deeply for someone?" he asked.

The question suddenly made her think deeply about what he said. Despite the fact that she'd never had a serious partner or any sort of serious crush, she felt almost sad thinking about it before quickly shaking it out of her head.

"I'm.. sorry, if I could give you advice on that I would but I don't think I've ever felt that way about somebody ever." she smiled. "Maybe try asking someone better than me."

She quickly walked away from the detective, trying to avoid thinking about her sudden change in emotion she had beforehand

|FIVE YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

"Robin, are you sure about this? There's always going to be another way with these people, I know that far too bloody well."

Zelena gave a worried look to her daughter after she'd agreed to help them. Whilst a part of her had immense faith that she would do the right thing, there was also still a huge part of her that worried for her child.

"I'll be fine mother. After all, I may as well help in the best way that I can."

She hugged her daughter for the final time. This girl standing in front of her had changed her life so greatly it was difficult to imagine it without her.

"I love you Robin, always remember that.."

Her daughter gave her one last look before opening the portal in front of her and jumping on her bike only to race through.

"Right then. Time to go back to the future I suppose"

 **[A/N: Well, that's it for Chapter 1. By the time I've published this there should be multiple chapters already, so rather than saying 'stay tuned' I may as well just say – read on?]**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Helping Hand

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Lucy had no idea what to do. How on earth was Henry supposed to break the curse if he couldn't give true love's kiss to her mother? Was there ever going to be a happy ending for her family?

But that was when she heard three knocks at the door, and suddenly everything changed. When she opened it, she was presented with a young woman, possibly even a high school student, with long ginger hair and an interestingly amused smile on her face.

"So, you must be Lucy.." . She spoke quickly, almost as if her sentence was rehearsed.

"I'm sorry, if you're looking for my mother she's not here right now"

"Good."

 _'Good? What's she talking about?'_

"Well, it's obvious you don't know who I am so I may as well introduce myself.", Robin said as she walked through the door despite not being invited in.

"I'm Robin, as in the really hazardous baby from that book you own, and I'm here to help you break the curse."

It was that sentence that made the young girl smile.

Roni spent the rest of the day as she normally would on a week day, serving drinks to the customers that came in. But despite all of it, nothing felt normal.

What made her feel so sad when Rogers asked her that question? She'd never been in love before, so it didn't make sense that she could possibly feel so cold like that.

Perhaps it was just loneliness, or perhaps she was just reminded of some couple from a TV show that got a miserable ending, or something stupid like that. She had to try and push these thoughts out of her head.

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

"Oh, for god's sake!". Zelena began shouting at the counter in front of her. Everything was so stressful and she had no idea how to handle herself. She had so much to do on that day that it literally made her angry just thinking about it.

"You doing ok?"

She turned around, to see no one else but Emma standing in front of her.

"What the hell are you doing in here?", she sighed.

"The door was open. Plus, Regina asked me to come over."

"Why? What does my sister want from me this time?". Zelena rolled her eyes.

"Actually, she doesn't want anything from you, she asked if I could come and babysit Robin for the day."

She looked in surprise. "What? Why would I need you to look after Robin?"

"Well, apparently she seems to think that you've been having a hard time handling a life without magic, and frankly I can definitely see where she's coming from.."

"Oh shut up will you. The last thing I need right now is your help". She turned around and attempted to continue cleaning her daughter's clothes, manually. Emma sighed and walked towards her.

"Look, Zelena I think you might be trying a bit to hard to get used to this and I really wouldn't mind just giving you a hand with your daughter. Plus, it might be useful for me as well"

"Useful for you?", she turned around.

"Yeah, well I mean.. Maybe some day I might have to deal with this whole parenting thing as well."

"..You're pregnant? Again?"

"No.. not yet, but I'm trying."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

"Alright, fine. You can get whatever 'experience' you need to get. I may as well go into town anyway.", she finally agreed.

"Thank you Zelena, and I'm sorry I was just trying to he-"

"Oh my god, it's fine! Now get on with it!"

Emma raised her hands, as if surrendering, before walking down the hallway of the farmhouse. But she stopped for one second.

"Um, Zelena?"

"Yes."

Emma paused before asking her question. "Do you think it's too early? For me to try to get pregnant straight after Henry left?"

Zelena paused and thought about her question for a moment, but her mind just came out blank. "Honestly, I'm not the person who should be giving you advice but I wouldn't really think so"

Emma smiled. "Thanks anyway"

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Lucy and Robin were sitting on one of the benches near the well. This place had practically become a safe haven for Lucy, as it reminded her of how courageous her mother was when she stopped Belfrey from destroying it. It was the first time, in what seemed like forever, that she'd showed her true colours as a hero.

"So, how did you get to Hyperion Heights?" she asked.

"Well.. let's just say it's a long story.", Robin replied. She wasn't exactly willing to explain everything at that point.

"No, no, no – you have to tell me! It makes no sense that you could be here, and especially not like this. Weren't you only born a few years ago? How are you so old?"

Robin laughed at her response. "I'm not that old, honestly. Only eighteen. And if I were only born a few years ago, then there's no way that you would be ten"

"But we got sent back in time, that's different!", she sighed.

"..Well, it's not actually that different in that case. I got sent back in time as well. Let's just say there were certain.. conditions." Robin looked downwards.

"I see… what conditions?", Lucy asked.

"The funny thing is, I don't even know the full story myself.."

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

After Emma promised to look after her daughter, Zelena walked to the grocery store to go and pick up some products for her day to day use. She wasn't used to this, not being able to use magic for every single thing that she did, and it made her frustrated that everything in life had to be so complicated. But she wasn't willing to give up that easily.

When she got all of her things together, she walked over to the till.

"That'll be $50 please", the cashier responded.

"I'm sorry, what?!", Zelena scoffed. How on earth could all of those things be so much bloody money?

Suddenly, there was a flash of magic in front of her. Not expecting it, she looked up at the cashier in front of her to see a completely different person at the desk.

"I said, that will be $50 please."

Zelena stared at her face. The odd thing was, no matter how hard she thought she couldn't recognise her. But that didn't stop her from being threatened.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?", she responded. There was no way that there was some sort of forgotten villain at the end of Henry's book, and especially not one that looked like this.

"Well, you see Zelena, the question isn't what I want, it's what you want. And if you want your child to be safe, then you're going to have to listen to me. Very carefully.."

 **[A/N was that a cliffhanger that I put there?**

 **Really hope you guys are enjoying reading this so far! I think I'm going to write one or two more chapters before I publish this for the first time, but after that I should continue writing chapters right away (I wanted to upload the first few chapters in bulk as kind of a 'taster' first if that makes sense)**

 **Also, I know a lot of you have probably come here for the OutlawQueen and I promise that I'll get to that segment soon! I just wanted to add more to the story before i got to the 'juicy parts' (cringe) , and to basically share what I think would be cool to happen in the show, even though I know it's never going to happen like this .-.**

 **Anyway, read on?]**


	3. Chapter 3 - Think Fast

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

"So, what exactly is your plan?"

"I don't actually know the answer to that either. I was practically summoned here to just help out and find a solution to this problem that Tremaine seems to have caused. It's all a bit messed up really"

Lucy gave Robin a confused look, but she was still overjoyed that there was finally a ounce of hope out there for her parents.

"Look, I don't know how all of this is going to work out for your family, but from what I've heard – I really want to help you sort out all of this and I promise I'm going to try as hard as I can to help out", Robin smiled.

Lucy didn't take long to smile back. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

"What is this? What the hell do you want from her?". Zelena's tone had changed from a suspicious one to an anxious one.

The woman in front of her smiled. "Well, you see Zelena – in a few years time I'm planning on casting a little curse not far from here and I can promise you that it's going to be extraordinarily fun, but the problem is, I believe that there's a small chance that your daughter may possibly end up getting in the way with all of it… and we don't want that do we?"

She shuddered slightly. "How would she get in the way exactly? And what even is this curse?"

"Oh, my curse shouldn't concern you, it's really not going to be that effective. As for your daughter though, there are certain conditions that must be met in order to keep the curse, and she has a very high chance of being able to disrupt my system. So, in order to fix that.."

The woman once again gave a familiar, threatening stare. "I need her to be gone."

"Are you threatening me?", Zelena responded

"Yes, yes I suppose I am.", she smiled coldly. "Now, I'm going to return to this petty little town tomorrow and I expect your daughter to be long gone before the sun sets. And if she isn't, then I suppose I'll have to get rid of her myself."

"Wait!", Zelena shouted just before she disappeared.

"Oh dear, what is it now?", the woman sighed.  
"Why her? Why my daughter? What could she do to break the curse?"

"Oh, you don't even know yourself do you? Your daughter is a lot more powerful than you think, Zelena. I can assure you of that."

She laughed before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

"Oh my god, I've just had the best idea ever!" Lucy shouted. Robin and her were walking down the street, presumably to Roni's but they'd practically lost track of their destination from talking.

"What is it?", Robin asked confusedly.

"Well, if it's true that you came here from outside of Seattle then there must be a way for you to escape and go to Storybrooke, right? You could get someone from there over to break the curse. Someone who loves someone else who's cursed here."

"Uhh, nice idea but I'm pretty certain Tremaine made sure that couldn't happen either. My journey here alone wasn't exactly a piece of cake and I highly doubt someone from Storybrooke would be able to enter without losing their memories or turning into a tree or – something"

Lucy got more and more frustrated. "But now what are we supposed to do?! I mean.. why were you 'sent here' if you didn't know how to help?"

"It's not that, it's..", Robin suddenly became more irate because she knew she had to explain more. "According to my mother, it was predicted a few years ago by Lady Tremaine herself that I would have some way of breaking the curse. I'm not sure how or why it would be me, but I know for a fact that I am supposed to have some way of doing it."

Lucy looked confusedly, because she wasn't paying full attention until she mentioned Tremaine's name. She was too busy thinking of more ways to get rid of the curse. But suddenly, she had an idea.

"THAT'S IT!" she shouted, way too loudly to Robin.

"What, what is it?" she responded.

"It's Regina! You need to remind her of Robin Hood in order to break the curse!"

"Robin Hood? As in my father? Why would I need to remind her of him?", Robin responded.

This was when it suddenly clicked in Lucy's head. "You don't even know yourself, do you? Wow, did the wicked witch tell you anything about how you were born?"

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

"I'm sorry but, she said what?", Snow asked. Zelena had managed to call everyone to 'urgently' see her at her house after she heard the news. She needed help with this now that she had no magic to protect herself, and this complex family was probably her best bet.

"She said that Robin has a chance of breaking some curse that's going to happen in the future somewhere and that she has to be 'gone' by tomorrow.."

Everyone looked in worry. "But, what curse is this supposed to be? We already got our happy endings so there's no way that there's meant to be another curse.", David spoke up.

"Well, from the way that she said it, it doesn't sound like it's going to be in Storybrooke nor with anyone else from here. I just don't understand why my daughter has anything to do with this."

They all fell silent in pity for a second, trying to think about the entire situation.

"Wait.", everyone turned to Hook when he spoke. "You don't think there's any way that your daughter could possibly use magic do you?"

"How the hell am I able to know that?", she responded.

"Actually, Hook has a point. Regina, do you think that could be possible?", David asked.

Regina looked bothered by his question. "I don't know but considering the fact that Zelena is her mother and that her pregnancy wasn't exactly natural, there is a possibility."

"Does this really matter? We need to figure out how to keep Robin safe as quickly as possible and you aren't exactly helping!", Zelena shouted.

Everyone fell silent for a second.

"Hang on.. I have an idea.."

 **[A/N: Christ these chapters are getting long .-. , anyway. I'm going to write one more chapter before publishing this so I don't leave you guys on too much of a cliffhanger.**

 **Also, I'm sorry if i'm making any mistakes in my maths and timings or anything! I'm trying my best but it's quite difficult to build around the whole 'a few years later' thing that A &E are doing. From what I've given so far, you can presume that the Hyperion Heights curse happened about 6 years after Robin's death and about 4-5 years after Henry leaves home (probably making Henry quite young but yknow it's very difficult to tell atm).**

 **anyway, continue?]**


	4. Chapter 4 - Over The Rainbow

CHAPTER 4 – OVER THE RAINBOW

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

"Are you mad?! I'm not sending my daughter and I back in time! That's crazy!", Zelena shouted frustratingly. This wasn't fair to her. Sure, it would be safe for her child but she still felt as if she was giving in to the reality of the situation.

"I'm sorry Zelena, but it's our only choice if we want to keep Robin safe. We don't know how powerful this person is or who she's working for – it's our only option!", Regina responded. Zelena could tell by her tone that her sister was upset as well, but at the same time it was hopeless to try anything else.

"Zelena, I am so sorry that this has to happen but I'm sure some day we'll find a way to bring you back.", Snow said pitifully.

"But, this was supposed to be my happy ending! Everything was supposed to be perfect!"

"And it will be! You'll just have to raise your daughter without our help"

Zelena was still hurt by their decision, but deep down she knew it was their only option.

She quickly headed home to pack away anything necessary, and everyone said their goodbyes to her. However, it was Regina's that was most significant.

"Look Zelena, I'm really sorry that we can't see each other for a while and.. as your sister I shouldn't have been such an idiot the past few months. I should've helped you get settled in here more and I should've been there for you."

"It's fine, honestly.", Zelena responded. "You did your best to look after your family and now you're doing the same for me"

They both smiled at each other. Life hadn't been easy for either of them, but at least they found a way to help each other.

"There's one more thing."

"What?", Zelena responded.

"I know it sucks a little that you can't take your daughter to another realm, but even so.. if Robin has the ability to use magic outside of Storybrooke.. don't teach her how to use it."

Zelena responded, confused after what her sister had said.

"But, why?"

"Because in a land without magic, the use of it can be somewhat threatening. And considering how powerful your magic was, I can only presume that Robin's would have a similar strength. You never know, if in the future you're anywhere near this curse, she may start to get noticed."

Initially she was angry at her request, but she eventually understood. It was too risky to teach her how to use magic, especially in a place like this.

"Well, it's probably not going to work anyway. Even my magic doesn't work outside of this town, so I doubt hers would."

Regina smiled, before giving her a quick hug.

"Goodbye sis"

Zelena then set off her potion, sending both her and her daughter backwards in time. Despite the fact that she knew she would be safe, part of Regina felt awful sending them both back. It was almost as if she was betraying Robin, seeing as she wasn't there for his daughter.

 _This wouldn't be the last time, would it?_

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

"You want me to what?!", Robin asked almost sounding astounded.

"Go into Roni's and talk to your aunt about Robin. You never know, it might bring back some memories of him!"

Robin didn't exactly think this was the most amazing of ideas, but she felt bad denying it. The look on Lucy's face was too joyful for her, so much that it tugged at her heartstrings.

"Are you sure about this? I mean, isn't it dangerous to start introducing myself to people in this town?"

"It'll be fine! You should probably use a different name though, you don't want Tremaine knowing that someone called Robin is roaming the streets", Lucy gleefully responded

"Okay then, here goes..". Robin changed the look on her face to an amused smile. It only just hit her that she in fact knew more about Regina or 'Roni', than she knew herself.

Upon entering, there weren't too many people inside. The place was however still, extremely cluttered and it was obvious that there weren't too many cleaners working there.

"Can I help you?"

Robin turned towards whoever spoke. In front of her stood a tall woman wearing denim and long earrings – definitely not what she imagined her aunt to look like.

"Bloody hell.."

|FOUR YEARS AGO, STORYBROOKE|

It was later the next night when Regina heard a knock on her door, and when she opened it she found an unfamiliar figure. Despite her unfamiliarity however, she knew exactly who it was.

"Where is she? Your sister?", the woman asked.

"She's not around anymore. Along with her daughter.", Regina replied coldly.

"You're telling me they're both dead?!", the woman almost sounded as if she was laughing. Regina couldn't help but be reminded of how she used to be, back when she was the evil queen. She would've had the exact same response.

"I guess you could say that"

The woman smiled.

"Thank you Regina, and I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Don't start.", she responded. She literally felt like she was on the edge of punching her in the face after she said that.

"Okay then, suit yourself. I guess I shall be leaving in that case."

"Please do."

To Regina's anger, the woman's smile grew bigger. "You know, everyone in this town has seemed incredibly blunt to me. I mean, just look at how pathetic they are. But you Regina, you're different aren't you?"

Her words ticked her off even further.

"What the hell are you on about?"

"Oh, nothing. I just thought I'd make my position very clear to you, because you know you and I could make a very good team."

"I'm not interested in whatever 'deal' you're trying to make with me. The only thing I'm interested in is you getting out of my front yard.", she responded sharply.

"Well, in that case, I suppose I'll see you soon.". The woman suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

But this didn't stop Regina from wondering what she meant by the fact that she would 'see her soon'..

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Roni gave the girl in front of her an awkward look, before Robin quickly realised that she just said her last statement out loud.

"Oh, my god I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that towards you, I was just surprised..", she quickly spoke awkwardly. Roni gave her a slightly judging look before shaking it off and speaking to her again.

"It's okay, I presume it's just been a long day for you. That's why people usually come in here, as you can imagine. My name's Roni by the way."

"Oh thanks, it's nice to meet you.". She quickly sat down on one of the bar seats. Out of all of the ways she envisioned meeting her infamous aunt, she never expected it to be like this.

"Listen, I hope you don't mind me asking but aren't you a little young to be in here?"

Robin rolled her eyes. This wasn't the first time someone had asked her about her age in a bar.

 **[a/n: lol probably should've thought this through but I forgot the drinking age in the U.S. was 21. let's just pretend she faked her age or something? .-. ]**

"Let's just say I look younger than I actually am.", she quickly stated "and I wouldn't mind something like a wine right now."

Roni gave her a suspicious look before grabbing the drink anyway, and serving it to her not long after.

"I feel like we've met before. Are you from around here?"

"Not exactly."

"Then where are you from?"

Robin laughed when she asked that question.

"Let's just say, somewhere over the rainbow."


	5. Chapter 5 - Amelie

CHAPTER 5 – WORD ON THE STREET

 **[A/N So Episode 4 (Beauty) just aired a few days back, but unfortunately I haven't been able to see it since I originally watched OUAT on Netflix and they only show the episodes from season 7 about 4 days after they've aired. For the past few episodes I've actually gone and done a little digging around the rest of the internet for the episodes to watch in low quality and then rewatched them when they came on Netflix, but nobody seems to have uploaded 7.04 yet :/ . In that case, sorry if there's anything I missed out! (although i doubt there would be cause that episode is basically just for rumbelle shippers) Only thing I'm worried about is the fact that they haven't introduced Regina's false memories of her family yet, which I'm going to change in this chapter in that case .-.]**

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

It didn't take long for Rogers to walk into Roni's after Robin had received her drink.

"Welcome back.", Roni responded. Robin then turned around to see who she recognised at the pirate, Hook, from the book that Henry had written.

"Wow, I didn't expect to see you here", she said unintentionally in surprise.

"You know me?"

"I guess you could say I've heard of you.". Rogers pulled an odd face before sitting down on one of the bar stools near her.

She suddenly remembered the reason why she came there in the first place, and began making her attempts to jog Regina's memory.. if that was going to work..

"Hey uh, Roni I've been meaning to ask you something.", she said.

"You have?", she responded in surprise.

"Well, yeah it's a bit of a weird one though."

"Go on."

Robin paused, but quickly let the words slide of her mouth. "Have you ever dated someone?"

"Oh god, not you too?", she responded. "Rogers is this some kind of joke you're setting up?"

"No, honestly I had no idea she was going to ask that question."

Robin interjected. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?". Roni sighed in response.

"No, it's fine. It's just that this sad excuse for a pirate asked me a similar question the other day?"

"Pirate?", Rogers just asked. It suddenly clicked in Robin's head that Roni, or Regina, had just called him a pirate, who Lucy claimed he was in another realm. Did this mean she was succeeding?

"Sorry, I don't know why that slipped out. I mean, detective."

She looked slightly worried after saying that, almost as if something similar had happened to her previously, but Robin was amazed. Was this plan really working? Despite still not knowing what had happened between her father and her aunt, she knew they must've had _something_.

"Well, anyway my answer to your question is 'yes' but why would you need to know?", Roni responded. It was almost as if she became more anxious with every word she said, as if there was something she was hiding. But, she wasn't hiding anything at all – the only memories she had of dating were of some people back in high school.

So why did she feel this way all of a sudden?

"I was just a little curious, that's all. No specific reason", Robin responded, just realising how out of place and awkward this conversation had become.

It was that moment when the door swung open, and Henry walked in.

"Come to join them in asking me numerous personal questions?", Roni said as he walked further towards them.

"Uh, no.. I've come to let you know about this party we're planning."

"A party?", Rogers responded. It wasn't ordinary for Henry to come up with such ideas in his mind.

"Well, yeah it's kind of Lucy's birthday this weekend so I thought it would be a tad bit necessary."

It took a while for Robin to realise who he was, but when she did she had this massive internal grin that she couldn't bear to bring out. This guy was the little boy who helped Emma save Storybrooke all of those years ago?

"So you must be Henry then, nice to meet you.", she smiled.

"Oh yes Henry, meet our new friend Miss Interrogative Ginger who just so happens to know your name despite us not telling her so", Roni said in a humorous tone.

Upon realising the second mistake she had made, Robin quickly attempted to cover this up. "No, I've just read your book. It's.. really quite amazing actually."

Henry looked back at her in confusion. His book wasn't exactly the most popular, so finding someone who knew both about his book and what he looked like was a little bit strange. Either way, he shrugged it off and continued his conversation from before.  
"Well, it's nice to meet you. Anyway, as I was saying, Jacinda wants to throw Lucy a larger birthday party this year considering the fact that she's turning 11 and she hasn't really had a proper party before. I was wondering if you guys could possibly help make some sort of donation."

"I'm sure we'd both be happy to make one, as long as Belfrey's not involved.", Rogers responded. Robin also intervened.

"I know we've only just met but I actually know Lucy too, so I'd be happy to help out. I mean, I don't have that much cash on me but I can always help with decorations or anything." Everyone paused for a second. They'd only just met this girl and yet she seemed to know everything about them, but neverless they decided to agree.

"You know, you remind me of someone.", Roni stated.

"Good, we're actually getting somewhere in that case.", Robin responded. She then suddenly remembered that she'd agreed to meet Lucy after all of this. "Look, I've got to go, but I'll catch up with you later on that party thing."

"Wait, don't you like need my number?", Henry promptly asked.  
"Nope, I'll find you don't worry.", she responded

"Wait!", Roni shouted right before she was about to walk through the door. "What's your name?"

Robin was about to reply by saying her name, until she remembered something important. If Tremaine was around, and if she had the slightest chance of being suspicious for someone like her coming here, she couldn't just spread around her name like this. So, instead she announced herself as something different.

"Amelie, my name's Amelie.", she said, before closing the door behind her


	6. Chapter 6 - Your Name

CHAPTER 6 – YOUR NAME

 **[A/N: So I just saw Beauty.. and omg.. SO MANY FEELS O_O . I've actually never been a huge fan of Rumbelle before mainly because of how annoying Rumplestilskin could treat Belle (i mean come on he was a douchebag) but after that episode I lowkey ship them! I love how they brought Up into the story as well, I think it fit really well!**

 **Anyway, here I am with a new chapter. From this point onwards, I'm going to try and add a lot more OutlawQueen seeing as that's basically gonna be endgame in this so get excited my memers.**

 **That's all from me – enjoy the chapter!]**

|AROUND 16 OR 17 YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

The school bell rang, as it did before the final period every day, and Robin was once again ready to go to her next lesson. Just like every other day, the halls were packed with young children around her age, all screaming and laughing as they chased each other around every corner, and just like every other day she watched as the people around her smiled whilst she stared blankly.

There was always a part of her which felt different to the other children. Always a part of her which felt so much quieter than the screams of her classmates when they played with glitter or paint or whatever was around them. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by people who she was made to get along with, she still felt lonely.

Of course, times weren't always bad. Occasionally she found someone to talk to, and whilst she still felt so disconnected, those types of people still made her smile. But today wasn't one of those occasional days, or at least she didn't think so.

It was when she walked into her next period when she began to wonder about this though. It was a PSHE **[a/n: don't know what the equivalent would be the in US]** lesson, this time on families. Whilst every kid discussed what their mother and father and siblings were like, she just sat there confused.

And that's when she asked herself, who was her father?

She'd never really had the proper courage to ask her mother about him, and for a long time she'd even just presumed that she didn't have one. That she appeared like magic, and that was her explanation for feeling so lost in life. But deep down, she always knew that something happened to her father and it wasn't something her mother was really ready to discuss.

But when she walked home that day, she finally had the courage to confront her mother about it. And this time she committed herself to finding out the truth.

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

"Amelie? Why Amelie?", Lucy asked. They were both sitting outside again, right after Robin had left Roni's.

"Well, because you're right. It's too dangerous to use my real identity here and if it's true that Tremaine was the reason for my mother travelling back in time then I should probably be careful about it."

"I wasn't asking why you faked your name, silly.", Lucy responded in slight laughter, "I was asking why you chose that name. I mean, I don't remember there being anyone called Amelie in the book anyway."

Robin then remembered something she was meaning to ask beforehand. "Hey Lucy, do you mind if I maybe borrowed that book at some point? I'm genuinely getting more and more curious the more you talk about it."

"Of course!", Lucy smiled, "but please answer my question."

Robin sighed with her response. "You know that movie about that girl called Amelie with the metal box thingy?", Lucy shrugged.

"God, I should've known nobody would watch that old stuff nowadays. Well, I just thought that seeing as everyone else involved in this is considered to be a fictional character that it would be fun to throw that name into the mix."

Despite not knowing the story, Lucy still realised how cool the idea was and once again smiled at the girl beside her. "I get it!"

"I'm glad you thought it was a nice idea as well in that case.", she responded.

"So you just chose that name because it was from a movie?", Lucy asked.

"Well, yeah basically. But there's another thing."

|AROUND 16 OR 17 YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

Robin had arrived back at the tiny little apartment she'd known as home and found her mother in the kitchen.

"Hey there, little munchkin! How did you enjoy your day of school?", her mother, Zelena, asked. But Robin wasn't ready to deal with the same boring conversations with her today.

"Mommy, who's my father?", she asked.

Zelena's face suddenly turned from a smile to a worried look. A part of her never even expected Robin to be slightly curious about who her father was, but another part of her knew that this day would come someday. She couldn't hide this any longer. She had to explain.

She got Robin to sit down on the couch before wrapping her arm around her, beginning to explain what she was ready to explain.

"You see Robin, your daddy and I weren't exactly very interested in each other when I found out that I was having you, so we didn't really want to raise you together." Robin gazed up at her, interested to hear more. "But he was a very nice man, I can assure you of that."

"Where is he now?", Robin asked.

This was the one question which Zelena never wanted her daughter to ask. How on earth was she meant to explain that he was dead? That he was killed with the Olympian Crystal and that he would never come back?

And that it was her fault?

"Darling, your father isn't around in this world anymore and I don't think you'll be able to see him anytime. But I promise you, if he was here he would be very proud of you."

Robin started crying slowly. She knew what her mother meant when she said those words, but she wished so much that she had no idea.

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

It was during her lunch break that Roni finally sat down and began thinking about the way she felt earlier that day. Why did she react in such a way when asked about her relationships? She'd never been with anyone, not seriously anyway, so it didn't make sense to her at all and yet those words made her feel so sad.

It was only when she thought hardly about it when she begun to have visions, almost memories appearing in her head. Memories of holding someone's hand beside her. Memories of smiling at someone she'd always longed to have in her life. Memories of being happy, almost as if she were a completely different person. But it still made her so sad and she had no idea why. She couldn't even remember who that person was, or what they looked like, or how they spoke. But something about it was so powerful and so deep.

Despite not knowing who it was, or why she thought of them she still longed to find that person. Even it were to just know their name. The problem was, she had no idea where to start.

"There's more?", Lucy responded to Robin's statement. Robin thought about what she would say carefully. It was really complicated, but at the same time she knew the exact reason like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Well, you see..

In the movie, Amelie always devoted herself to help others no matter what the cost, and even though I'm hopeless at helping other people.. that's almost what I want to be able to do. I want to help as many people in this town as possible, including my aunt, even if it does kill me or force me to risk my life. Because from what I was told, that's what my father would've done. He would've helped the people around him and he would've helped the people that he loved. And that's what I want to do."

 **[A/N: wow, that chapter was a bit long.. Anyway, I'm really enjoying writing this so far and I hope you guys are enjoying the story! Sorry for the minor plotholes, especially with how the Hyperion Heights curse started but I don't really want to get too far into that because I want to make the backstory as similar to what's canon as possible.**

 **I'm actually leaving to go to a different country tomorrow, as of writing this, which is why I'm publishing multiple chapters in the same day. I could write some more whilst I'm abroad, but I wouldn't have my PC and I kinda hate writing on my phone .-.**

 **I will consider it though, because I'm actually getting quite into this unlike the other fanfics that I've tried to start writing in the past and ended up failing.**

 **I'll stop dragging this AN on now though, cause it's time for the next chapter 8) ]**


	7. Chapter 7 - Word On The Street

CHAPTER 7 – WORD ON THE STREET

"Good morning mother.", Ivy said in a formal manner. She decided this morning to see her mother, not only to give the usual morning cup of coffee but also to deliver some news which she thought she would be interested in.

"Good morning Ivy dear. Thank you for the coffee, it's really appreciated.", her mother responded. Ivy always felt as if she had to be more polite around her mother, considering how strict she could be with her. She almost secretly felt slightly bad for Jacinda considering the way she treated her, but despite it she still continued to convince herself that she didn't and kept acting horrible towards her, just as her mother did.

"So mother, have you heard about this dreaded party that Jacinda is trying to throw for Lucy?"

"Undoubtedly.", her secretive mother responded. "I think it's almost hilarious how she thinks she can pull it off without my help. She'll barely be able to afford the food there."

"I would agree, but honestly I'm not so sure about that."

Her mother looked up. "Well, what are you talking about?"

"Somehow, Mr. Mills has managed to go around getting people to donate money and stuff for it. Apparently Roni's even helping with the catering."

Victoria sighed at the news. Despite not being bothered too much about Lucy's happiness with her mother, and despite not being too bothered that she seemed to know the truth about her family, the fact that _that group_ were getting together again made her more and more worried about the curse's duration.

"There's also something else mother. There's a new person in town, going under the name of Amelie, who also seems to be helping out. It's ironic how soon she's getting involved despite the fact that she didn't seem to previously have any relation with them at all."

This, was what made her mother more and more suspicious. Why on earth would this woman start getting involved with that group of people so soon, especially considering the fact that she's never spoken to them before.

"Thank you for telling me this, Ivy. It may sound odd, but this information is very very useful to me."

Ivy still had no idea why her mother was so interested in who Lucy was involved with. I mean, of course she cared for her like any grandparent would – but it almost seemed as if she wanted to keep her from her happiness.

But once again, she shrugged it off. Ivy wasn't the type of person to get involved in things she wasn't too bothered about, and today this was no different.

"So, any progress on Roni?", Lucy asked Robin. They had made it a routine to see each other every day right after Lucy's school had finished to discuss the progress they had made on the curse.

Robin felt nervous about her question. Even though she'd managed to almost trigger something in Roni before, she felt so embarrassed to ask those types of questions all of the time. After all, she didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.

"Look, Lucy as much as I want to get rid of this curse too I don't think trying to remind my aunt about my father is exactly going to help with this. I mean, from what you've said I know that they had some sort of relationship together but now that he's .. well, dead.. I just don't think it would be the best approach."

Lucy suddenly became upset with Robin's response. "But, this is the only way! If my father can't break the curse, then Regina's the only one who can! Please, you have to at least try."

It was at this moment when, unexpectedly, Lucy found her mother in front of her.

"Hi, Lucy. How was your day at school? And who's this?"

Robin awkwardly made up a response. "Oh, I'm just Lucy's friend's… sister. I saw her walking home and thought I'd say hi."

Jacinda looked suspiciously at her, a look which Robin was now familiar with in this city, but she decided to go along with it.

"It's fine mother, we were just having a friendly conversation.", Lucy said, whilst eye-ing Robin as if trying to signal her something.

"You know what, Lucy, I'm going to go home but I'll catch up with you later..", Robin quickly trailed off.

"Okay, well have a good evening!" Jacinda said in a kind tone, "Come on Lucy let's go."

"DON'T FORGET TO READ THE BOOK!", Lucy shouted to Robin.

Whilst Robin hadn't read much of the book yet, she wasn't too sure why this was necessary. I mean, did she really have to know every single detail about her father and Regina's romance?

Either way, she promptly headed to the motel she was staying at to get on with it.

 _She sighed at the page in front of her._

 _"Is this.. us?"_

 _"Yes!", he said, "Inside the pub!"_

 _"I don't understand, this isn't what happened.. is this from the book?" She walked around the tables as she questioned what was in front of her._

 _"23.. Page 23.. is it missing from the book?"_

 _"No, no it's already there and it's you leaving me. This goes in the same place. This is the meeting that we never had!"_

 _She looked at the two different pages: one of which showing what she dreamt had happened and one showing what seemed to be reality._

 _"What does it mean?"_

 _"It means that your fate could've gone many different ways. It means you're not doomed to suffer. There's a bright future for you around every turn, even if you miss one."_

It was at that moment where Roni woke up. She was initially concerned – had she really fallen asleep on her couch in the middle of the day?

But that's when she remembered her dream.

She remembered the two pages showing what seemed to be pictures with her. She remembered that man, telling her things about fate and about a book.. About page 23…

Although, despite it being a dream, something about it felt so real. It was almost as if she'd been in that exact place before, and thought about that person countless times before. And yet she still couldn't see his face, or remember his name…

Despite this, Roni still convinced herself that it meant nothing. That it was all just some stupid dream like the other ones she'd had.

But deep down, she knew something was wrong

 **[A/N: and thus the outlawqueen hype train begins!**

 **That's probably all I'm going to write for today, but I think I might try and write some more of this whilst I'm on the plane tomorrow because I'm really excited to write the next few parts!**

 **Anyway, to be continued?]**


	8. Chapter 8 - Jealousy in Your Happiness

**[A/N: Sorry it's been so long! I wrote some chapters but I decided that they were pretty bad, and I wanted to get to the OutlawQueen part a bit quicker. I generally went too far in depth of the backstory of the some of the characters, and I think that if anyone is still reading this they probably just want to get right on to the good stuff.**

 **So here we are! Enjoy this chapter. Also, hopefully there aren't any plotholes in my fanfic now that I've skipped some stuff out lol]**

|FIVE YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

Three knocks. There were three knocks on the door and from there, the fate of Robin had completely changed.

It was a man, in around his twenties, who seemed to have a message for Zelena. Something that he was simply asked to state when he went back in time, without knowing the true reason for it.

"Hello, are you Zelena?", he asked once the former witch opened the door.

"Yes..I'm sorry, who are you?", Zelena asked.

"I've been sent back in time, using a spell that you apparently made once, to tell your daughter that she is needed to break a curse.", he said.

At first, Zelena thought that this man must've been insane. There was no way that Robin needed to go into the future to save anyone, not anyone she could think of anyway.

But that's when she remembered. She remembered that strange woman she'd saw the day she went back in time, and she'd remembered her warning.

And it came apparent, that there was no way she could avoid this.

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

After a few weeks, they had finally gotten round to Lucy's birthday party. Despite the fact that Robin wasn't supplying much, she was still eager to help out considering the fact that she'd become very fond of her and was generally happy to see this happen. Henry and Jacinda were also excited, seeing as this was the first proper party Lucy had ever had, and working on it together made Lucy even more elated that her family was finally forming again.

However, there was one person who wasn't exactly happy that day, and that was Roni. The past few weeks had been so confusing – she kept having all of these weird memories and dreams about her past and about this person who she didn't even recall meeting beforehand. Something about it made her constantly stressed and angry with herself.

Sure, maybe helping out on that day would help her forget for a short while. But it still haunted her so much.

After helping with the decorations of this tiny hall that they'd booked, Robin entered the room. She was so happy to be able to get involved with all of this. Something about seeing Lucy happy made her feel warm inside.

"Oh, so you actually came? To be honest I didn't expect you to turn up.", Roni stated.

"Hello to you too, and why wouldn't I turn up?", Robin replied.

"Well, it did seem a little odd that you were so upfront about helping Lucy, I thought you were just joking or something.", Roni responded. She wasn't to blame for feeling confused – ever since this girl turned up everything had been confusing.

"Of course I wasn't joking! I genuinely care about that girl.", she replied.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly is your relationship with her? Up until a few weeks ago you didn't even seem to exist on this earth and yet you seem to know a hell of a lot about this town.", Roni responded in a slightly irritated tone. She hated how everything had gotten so conflicting recently. She hated how as soon as this girl showed up, everything seemed to become a blur. She hated it, and yet part of her still wanted to know more.

"Whoa, okay calm down. Let's just get on with this party right now, alright?", Robin responded anxiously, knowing she'd obviously ticked her off.

|FIVE YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

"You're saying.. my daughter can use magic?", Zelena asked in denial.

"Well she is the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, so it isn't unexpected.", the man responded.

Zelena layed back, in shock. There was no way this could all start happening now, and not just when her daughter was about to go to university. She'd never suspected anything of her daughter and magic before, and frankly she didn't want to have to. Dealing with going back in time was enough, but explaining to her own daughter that she was in fact a witch from some musical was going to get extremely complicated.

"So, out of all of the people who can use magic, you've chosen to come back in time to bring my daughter along to help?", she said. She was so upset and angry and the same time, it didn't make any sense to her.

"It's not just that. Your daughter has a gift, something that can supposedly bring back something that's lost to someone you care about. I used a spell that you once made to come back and bring her because it seemed to be the only choice, or at least I was told that by doing this I saved everyone.". The man in front of her almost put on a smile when mentioning that. It was as if he knew the ending to this story. But Zelena didn't have any time to ask those kinds of questions.

"Tell me more. I need to know what's going on here before I make any decisions."

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Lucy was astounded that her mother and father had organised the party. As soon as her friends got her to enter the room, she begun to scream with excitement. It was wonderful, and everyone smiled.

Despite the initial joy however, the rest of that day wasn't exactly the most pleasant.

At some point, Roni decided to exit the room and Robin, out of curiousity, decided to see where she was going. She watched as her heels echoed down the halls and as she looked downwards to the floor. She was angry with herself, confused and most of all upset.

Nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Despite knowing the history with her entire family, and despite knowing how it all turned out, part of Roni felt like it was all a huge lie. Watching everyone laugh and smile made her long for something, for someone who she seemed to have wanted to see for her entire life and yet she had absolutely no idea who it was. It all just seemed like some massive fairy tale.

That's when Robin stopped her. "Where are you going?"

Roni initially considered not responding and attempting to run off, but she knew there was no way that would work in this situation, no matter how much these emotions were taking over her. She had to come up with some excuse.

"I'm just getting some fresh air, it's a bit stuffy inside don't you think?", she quickly tried to avoid her.

"Wait-" Robin stopped mid sentence, immediately knowing this was some sort of excuse from the look on her face. Whilst she knew this wasn't the time and place to discuss what she had wanted to say, she knew that she couldn't wait any longer. She couldn't stand the pain of Regina not knowing who she really was, and she couldn't stand the fact that she had no idea about any of those stories in the book that her son had written about her and her father. It just wasn't right.

Even if she couldn't properly break the curse now, she had to say this. She had to let it all out.

"I know that you're trying to tell yourself something, something important. Something that makes you miserable when you saw everyone happy but you can't just keep running away from it!", Robin loudly spoke up.

Roni looked at her, anxiously. How could she know so much about her?

"What are you talking about? You have no idea what's going on, and you never have. You're just some random girl passing by who seems to have gotten involved with us far too quickly. You don't have any say in what I feel right now.", she shouted back.

"No, but that's where you're wrong! I know far more about you than you think, ironically more than you do yourself, but that isn't because I've stalked you or because Lucy's told me – It's because you knew me!", she shouted back.

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

She couldn't stand it anymore. She had to let it slip out. "For God's Sake, Regina I know that you're remembering my father and I know that you loved him despite all that you two went through, despite all of the issues that I caused, and this is the only way we can defeat this bloody curse! You have to at least try to listen to yourself for one second!", she shouted.

Roni was simply godsmacked. It took her a while to process what she'd just said to her, and she only just realised that this girl wasn't some delusional child from the neighbourhood. Who was she? Who was this father of hers and if so, was she the man she loved? And how did she know all of this?

"I'm sorry to interrupt.."

They both turned around, to hear a familiar voice.

"..but what on earth is going on here?"

It was Victoria Belfrey

 **[A/N: And that's all for this chapter!**

 **Please be aware that I have now decided to up the pace with this fanfic a little bit, rather than going into heavy detail of the plotline which is what I was planning on doing beforehand. I've mainly decided to do this because I think people are going to enjoy the fanfiction more for the ship and less for the backstory, if you know what I mean** **?** **.**

 **Even so, I still wanted to add quite a few chapters going through the main outline of what was happening so that this would stay more true to canon and that it would give a reasonable possibility for Robin Hood to come back.**

 **Anyway, I'm going to be writing the next chapter soon and trust me, a heck of a lot's going to go down! stay tuned :D ]**


	9. Chapter 9 - Razor's Edge

CHAPTER 9 – RAZOR'S EDGE

 **[A/N: Okay, so I think this is quite important to mention:**

 **I was originally planning on this being a partial AU, but now that it's confirmed that it was in fact Drizella who cast the curse, and that Regina got her memories back in canon in a different way, this is going to be a full-on AU i guess you could say. This does annoy me a little but I think it's best that I don't really make many adjustments to this story now that I've started it so I'll just continue with this.**

 **Who knows though, maybe I'll make some changes in the future to make it more similar? Anyway, here's chapter 9!]**

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Roni stared in anger at the woman in front of her. Out of all of the people in this city, why did this demon have to be here at this one moment in time.

"It's none of your business, honestly," Robin responded for her. She knew that Roni wasn't in the position to talk to this woman at this right second.

"Well, frankly it is. I don't think my step-daughter would enjoy a fight like this going on at Lucy's party."

It was at that moment that Robin realised who she was talking to, and she wasn't exactly pleased. If it was true that Lady Tremaine had started the curse, then she couldn't let her hear any of this.

"You must be Amelie, mustn't you? Well, I'm-"

"Victoria Belfrey, yes I know.", Robin responded with attitude.

"It seems you've heard of me.. Well, I was wondering if I could perhaps talk to you in private for a few minutes if that's okay."

She didn't know what to expect, of course, but even if Belfrey suspected her she had already almost brought Regina's memories back and frankly that was probably going to be enough for her. But at the same time, she didn't want to have to leave like this. She didn't want to leave Lucy and the others alone.

"Alright then. But make it quick."

"So, are you having a good time Lucy?", Jacinda asked her daughter despite knowing the answer. Seeing her happy was one of the only things that filled her with joy during those times, and she knew that she owed Henry so much for helping her organise it.

"Mom, this is the best party ever! I couldn't have asked for more.", she smiled.

That was when Henry walked over. "Hey, have you guys seen Roni by any chance? She was here earlier but it looks like Amelie and her left the room all of a sudden."

Jacinda shrugged. "No, we haven't really seen her. Was she supposed to be here today?"

"It seems she was.", a familiar voice spoke up. They turned around to see no one else, but the man known as Detective Weaver.

"Detective.. I didn't expect to see you here today.", Henry responded in confusion. Was something going on that he should be concerned about?

"Yes, you didn't. But it seems that someone may have attempted to intervene with this party and I thought I'd just come along and have a word with her."

"Who?"

"Victoria Belfrey.". They sighed at hearing the infamous name.

"Don't worry Detective, I can have a word with her.", Jacinda responded presuming that she'd just come to try and interfere with Lucy's party.

"No, that won't be necessary. I need to have a private conversation with her if that's alright.", he said.

"Are you sure about that? I mean, Jacinda and I can go and sort it out.", Henry stated.

"It's fine. I need to deal with myself.", he said before walking away. Lucy became concerned all of a sudden, even though she tried to tell herself that nothing was going on.

"Is everything going to be okay mom?"

"Yes, Lucy, everything will be fine. Now go and play with your friends.", Jacinda positively said. But that didn't exactly help Lucy feel any more positive about the situation.

After Roni walked outside of the building, Belfrey settled to succeed in her plans. She knew this was the best way to take this girl down, and finally get what she wanted.

"You're new in town, aren't you? I haven't seen you around here before.", she asked. Robin grew nervous.

"Yes, I just moved here, why?"

"You see Amelie, I've always been interested in the lives of the people who come to live here. No matter how many of them come by, I'm always interested in their stories of, well, why they decided to move, where they came from and.. why they came here.", she glared at her.

"I was just trying to find a place to live after school, that's all.", Robin quickly spoke up.

"Oh really? Because I've been meaning to ask you something.. something quite personal actually.". Belfrey walked closer to her, until she was about an eye's distance away which genuinely made Robin shudder.

"Do you believe in magic?"

It was that question which made her even more tense.

"What kind of magic are you talking about, Ms. Belfrey?", she said as the woman in front of her walked away slowly.

"Well, there is some sort of myth or rumour going around this town that magic is common here. I'm personally not so sure how believeable it is but I was just wondering what you thought about it really.", she said in almost a dithyrambic tone. Her heels made loud echoes on the wooden floor as she wondered.

"I'm sure that's just some myth, honestly. I mean, magic isn't real is it.", Robin attempted to put on a laughing tone but it ended up coming out in a shaky voice.

"Oh, but that's not true is it darling.."

She stepped forward.

"Because without magic Robin, how on earth would you have gotten here?"

Roni, initially planning to sit down somewhere, just stood in the chilled weather outside. Her mind was racing, filled with confusion and anger and sadness and- something else she couldn't recall.

It was as if she was trying to tell herself something, but she didn't know what it was. She'd felt like that for a long time, as if there had been something incredibly, heartbreakingly important that she'd forgotten and that she was urging herself to remember.

But that was when it all suddenly came flooding back to her. All of her memories from her past, everything she'd known for a long time. They raced through her mind like some sort of bullet train, and it almost felt like that train was going to crash at any second.

Though, she remembered. Despite all of it, she remembered exactly who she was and how she got here.

And Regina Mills was not going to stop fighting for it.

 **[a/n: aaaand that's all for this chapter! It was a little bit difficult writing this, because now there are certain things in the plot which are going to be kinda unanswered but honestly I want to just release what I thought would've been a good ending for OutlawQueen without caring about all of the unanswered stuff.**

 **Speaking of which, I may make a book of oneshots after this!**

 **Anyway, that's all for now folks.. To be continued!]**


	10. Chapter 10 - Rise

CHAPTER 10 – CLIMB

|FIVE YEARS AGO, SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA|

It took Zelena a while to process what had just been told to her.

"Listen, despite the fact that this may sound crazy.. we really need your help with this.", the man said, as if replying to her facial expression.

"You're..you're telling me that Robin can open those bloody things?"

"It seems so."

Zelena's confusion was only made worse. "But how is that even possible?! It's not as if there's such a spell anyway."

"It's nothing to do with the spells she can use, it's to do with the origin of her magic. Trust me on this, it may be difficult to believe now but you'll understand the good parts of this some day."

"Some day? Why don't you just tell me now?!", she shouted.

There was a pause, and the silence became deadly. It took a while for him to say anything.

"Look, if you had a chance to save the people you loved would you take it?"

Zelena glared at him.

"Because this is the only way."

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

The sound of footsteps suddenly approached Detective Weaver, who was at that point in time looking for Tremaine. He knew what she was up to, or at least he suspected it. And despite not knowing who this girl was or what relation she had with any of this, he knew that it wasn't worth letting someone who could potentially break this curse suffer because of her.

But whilst he expected those echoes to come from the high-heeled shoes of Victoria Belfrey, they instead came from someone else.

"Roni, it seems your friends are looking for you."

"Let them look.", she sighed. The idea of some kid's party seemed so pointless at that moment.

"..okay then, but if it's Belfrey you're looking for I don't suggest trying to."

This however, caught her attention. "Why? I'm not here to shame her for coming here if that's what you think."

"Then why are you looking for her?"

"It's complicated. And I'm not looking for her, I know exactly where she is so if you could excuse me."

"Wait.", he responded in an irate tone. "Whatever your problem is with Belfrey now, I can help you."

"No, I'm pretty sure you can't help me with this thank you.", she said before beginning to walk off again.

"Roni, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into."

She paused.

"It's Regina, and I know exactly what I'm getting into."

 **[a/n: that burn tho]**

"So, how did you know it was me?", Robin said sincerely. She didn't exactly expect to get caught, or at least caught so quickly, but she knew that she was still prepared to fight back.

"Let's just say that before this curse was cast, I did my own special digging into that realm you come from.", the woman strolled in a circle with her head as high as it can get. She obviously had no shame in what she was doing and that only made Robin more sick of it.

"I've got to say though, I'm actually quite impressed. Of course, the girl born out of some pesky little affair has some sort of magic that can disrupt my curse. I mean, for god's sake, even your birth was the most unnatural thing I've ever heard of.", she continued.

"Be quiet."

Tremaine simply laughed in response. "So, aren't you going to do it? Aren't you going to show me what exactly makes you so special?"

"Do what?"

"The magic, of course."

Robin panicked. She'd never used her magic before, and despite knowing the basic idea of it essentially transporting you to another realm, she didn't know anything else about where it led and what it could do.

"I can't use magic."

Tremaine smiled. "Well they wouldn't have sent you here if you couldn't, would they?"

"I'm not kidding, I don't know how to use my magic!"

"You're serious?", the grown woman suddenly changed her attitude as she sighed. "then what is the use of you here anyway?. I was told you could open some ghastly things."

"What kind of things?", Robin questioned in curiosity. Did this woman know what her powers were? Would she finally find the answer to her question that she'd been looking for.. for what felt like an eternity?

But instead of disclosing it, Tremaine just smiled. She gave that kind of evil smile, the one in which children were bound to hide from behind sofas if they saw it on a television. The smile of a deranged, broken woman seen as nothing but a villain from the outside and she made it look so easy to pull off.

"You know what you are Robin? Useless. Utterly useless. You'll never be able to break my curse – even after I'm dead!" .

Her words echoed across the emptiness around the halls, but that emptiness was soon to get far more grim.

"Miss Belfrey, I don't care what you think. I don't care if you think that I'm just some annoying little piece of this world, of this story, that always makes everything fall apart. As are you, I am human. And I will not break my promise to Lucy. I will break this curse."

And as the significance of the pause heightened, the world around them grew smaller and far more crowded than beforehand. Like the jump before a fall, as she spoke –

"and there's nothing that's going to stop me!"

 **[A/N: woo! sorry for the delay, but writing this chapter was pretty difficult and when things are difficult I usually end up postponing them till the end of time. Anyway, I'm working on the next wrong right now so stay tuned my dudes.]**


	11. Chapter 11 - and fall

CHAPTER 11 – AND FALL

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

And there it was! The chance to escape all of this. Because, as much as Lucy loved this party that her actual parents had planned for her and as much as it made her excited to escape all of the hell that was knowing this neverending curse, escaping wasn't going to help her win.

She needed to know where Robin and Roni were, because thinking of what Weaver and Belfrey were up to whilst this was happening, it didn't sound like it was going to be a piece of cake (or should she say, birthday cake). Besides, why miss out on this just because of fun and games?

So, as she poked round the halls of this conveniently-sized building for the plot **[im sorry]** , she was quite happy to find a familiar face.

"Lucy, what on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be having fun?". It was Detective Weaver, with his unusual soft spot for children that had seemed to have developed over the past few.. decades.

"How am I supposed to have fun if I know that Robin and Roni have gone missing and that my step-grandmother is at this place?"

Concealing a shrug of agreement, Mr. Gold continued to keep his common sense. "Listen Lucy, this really isn't anything for you to worry about."

"Well, I am worrying about it so how about you tell me what's going on.". He sighed at the rebellious child in front of him.

"Listen to me Lucy, if you're not back in that room with your friends in the next few minutes then I'll have to take you there myself."

Lucy initially gave a childish whine as he walked past her, but she was really concealing a smile. Because he was right, she was a rebellious child, and she wasn't going to listen to people like him.

"Does it look like I care?"

That was Tremaine's response. After that long buildup, all she really was – was a woman who didn't seem to care. And the look on her face only backed that up. But Robin wasn't willing to give up just yet.

"You know what, you really piss me off. Seriously. I mean, you cast this curse and you don't even have a good enough reason other than to piss people off."

Tremaine just laughed. "Well, of course I had a reason for this curse."

"Okay, then please share..", Robin glared.

"If I didn't cast this curse, I wouldn't have the chance to save my daughter Anastasia. If I didn't cast this curse, I wouldn't have the chance to stop Drizella from perhaps casting the exact same curse."

She continued to get angrier at her as her fists clenched and her heartbeat pacened.

"That's.. enough.."

"And, for your information Robin, if I didn't cast this curse you wouldn't even be here, you'd be somewhere worse."

Robin said nothing, but in her mind she was screaming for her to stop.

"Sitting around, at home in god's knows where or when.."

 _Stop.._

"..and being your pathetic little self who can't help with anything useful."

 _Stop.._

"am I wrong?"

"STOP!"

And that was when it appeared. An unfamiliar crack. Unfamiliar to what anyone had known. It seemed like Robin had some how managed to open up some sort of portal, resembling the shape of a scar or tear in the fabric of this world. The most eerie thing however, was that everything through it was dark. There was nothing, nothing there.

"What.. the hell..", Robin was shook at what she'd just created. How did that even happen? One second it felt like her head was burning with anger and the next she'd opened some sort of black hole?

Tremaine however, just gave off the same evil laugh despite it being delayed in shock. It all just seemed humorous to her, because from her perspective there was nothing that could possibly get in the way of her plans was there?

"Look at that…" The woman circled the figure in front of her. "Well, when they said that realm-jumping had it's consequences I'd never thought it would be quite this spectacular."

Despite having no idea what she was saying, Robin knew that this wasn't going to end well.

"What.. what do you need me to do?"

Then, came a shout from behind her, "Don't touch it!", and of course when she turned around she only saw who she expected to. Rumplestiltskin.

"Oh, it seems someone has joined the party. Trust me, you haven't missed much yet."

Robin looked at him as if asking a question. Was there any chance to know what this was?

"Robin, whatever you do don't touch that thing."

"Oh, so you know who this girl is as well then? Well, they sure were correct when they said that you were clever..", Tremaine playfully answered. Robin continued to gasp for air. The delayed panic was suddenly getting to her.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked inbetween her breaths.

"It's a world-jumper, but trust me you don't want to enter it. Just walk back."

It was at that moment when Tremaine grabbed onto her shoulder. "Don't listen to him now, Robin. You're going to go through that thing, and you're going to do exactly as I say aren't you?", her threatening tone made her only feel colder.

"What are you doing!?"

But the woman then turned her head, as she saw that little girl – that one little girl who she honestly didn't want to deal with at that point.

"Lucy, what on earth are you doing here? I told you to stay away!", Weaver shouted like an angry parent.

"Grandma, please let go!", Lucy shouted as the woman practically strangled Robin with her tight grip.

"Lucy, this is none of your business! Go away!" . Robin gasped as she looked down at the little girl in front of her. She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't fail Lucy, not when she'd made that promise.

"I'm not leaving until you stop this!", she shouted as she looked at the portal. She originally thought it was some evil piece of magic that Belfrey had set off but when she looked closer there didn't seem to be anything distinctly evil about it. It was just.. black.

A faint sound of booming footsteps was heard from a distance.

Robin attempted to speak, but it only came out in a hoarse whisper.

"I'm sorry child, but I'm afraid you're going to have to say goodbye to your dear friend here.", Tremaine said in an almost convincingly pitiful voice. Lucy just looked at her in horror. She couldn't let this happen to Robin, not after all that they'd been through.

The booming became louder, and faster by the sound of it.

"Please, Victoria, please don't do this!". Tremaine almost considered listening to the child, but then again she was still set on her prize.

"I'm sorry Lucy."

She pushed Robin forwards, only for her to stumble and fall through the blackness of her own creation as she disappeared through it.

But right as the crack was about to close, right as Robin was going to be lost forever – Lucy ran. Ran as fast as she could to get through that portal.

And as the booming, which turned out to be the echo of Regina's steps down the hallways, drew to a close.. so did the presence of who were both known as Robin and Lucy.

"Where are they?", Regina said in a breathless voice.

"Oh, they're gone Regina.", Tremaine said in response.

Anger hit her, and she looked over at her former tutor to see his response. It was obvious he'd just ran into this as well, and what was also obvious to him was the fact that she'd just lost.

"I'm.. I'm not going to let you get away with this..", she said in a hoarse voice. "I will find them!"

"No.", Tremaine said as she took a poisonous arrow and crossbow out of her bag.

"You won't."

And the queen was shot.

 **[A/N: Well.. I guess that's a good cliffhanger to leave it on?**

 **Honestly, writing this chapter was pretty hard but also pretty fun. I'm really excited to get on to the good bits of this fanfic** **?**

 **And yes, before you great OGs point out how similar the whole 'crack' thing was to that infamous Doctor Who plotline, stop judging me lmao.**

 **Anyway, in the next chapter (or at least the one after that), you're finally going to meet the actual Robin so do not threat. I know this took a while and I didn't originally intend to make this fanfic super long but I've kinda realised that this fanfic generally has a lot of potential to bring back and to solve quite a few of the issues that A &E made in Season 5 and frankly I'm not one to hesitate as they say 8)**

 **So, see you soon?]**


	12. Chapter 12 - Uncertainty

CHAPTER 12 – UNCERTAINTY

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Henry pondered around in confusion. It didn't seem possible that someone would have the intention to shoot Roni, it just didn't make too much sense. And whilst Weaver seemed to claim it was just a deranged thief trying to steal some of her goods, it just didn't seem to fit. Especially the fact that their weapon of choice was a bow and arrow.

He hadn't seen Lucy since it happened, and whilst he hated to admit it he was pretty concerned. Because despite him knowing that there was nothing to be worried about, everything seemed off. Nothing was right.

After about an hour of waiting in a hospital room, one of the doctors confronted him.

"Mr. Mills, is it?"

"Yes."

The doctor gave him a look of assurance, despite the fact that he sensed some sort of confusion in him.

"You'll be glad to hear that your friend is in a stable condition. It was lucky that you called the ambulance so soon, because this way we were able to stop all of the blood loss, and none of the bones in her shoulder were shattered."

Despite the confusion, Henry was generally quite relieved that she wasn't going to suffer any serious consequences. After all, it could've been much worse.

But there was still something off-putting about it.

"Hey, excuse me sir but, could I ask you something?" The doctor turned around in response to his question. "Of course."

"Did the police tell you any information about how this all happened? I know Detective Weaver said it was just a thief but.. I was just wondering."

The doctor began to look a little anxious. "Well, no they haven't said anything else that we can confirm."

"But, you would still tell me if there's something we didn't know wouldn't you?", Henry attempted to fight back.

The doctor paused for a moment, before speaking in a quieter voice. "Well, as long as it doesn't freak you out.."

"Tell me what you know."

|PRESENT DAY, ?|

Robin woke up. At first, she ended up pretty confused about what was going on. She hadn't seemed to process that she wasn't asleep at home, back with her mother a few years ago. Despite spending the past few weeks in Seattle, she still wasn't used to this. But by the time that she'd processed what was around her, she realised that this definitely was not Seattle.

Looking around, she seemed to see nothing but tall, leafless trees. They almost seemed completely dead, as the colour from them was pale and plain, as if they were completely lifeless. The sky was also dark, more blackened than indigo. Frankly, the entire place just looked deserted.

And that's when she remembered what happened.

"Lucy!" She frantically looked around to find her, hoping that she hadn't gone missing but she didn't seem to get any luck. "Lucy, are you there?" Despite shouting at the top of her lungs and despite running around every corner of every pathway she could find – she didn't see her.

But that was when she heard someone, a voice from further behind her. Although she couldn't distinguish what they were saying, she followed it.

"I thought you'd be somewhere around here."

She looked to her side and stopped running. In front of her was a man, just a bit shorter and younger-looking than her, who seemed to be smiling.

"What the hell is this place?", she didn't have time to ask any other questions. Upon further observation, she begun to get a strange feeling around this person and she wasn't sure what to think of it. It was dark and unsettling, but it didn't make her afraid. It just made her feel.. suspicious.

"Well, hello to you too then.", he said in a smug tone. "My name's Michael, welcome to the end."

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

The doctor asked Henry to follow him down to an empty hallway in order for him to say what he needed to say. It initially didn't make much sense why they were walking so far away from the waiting room, but as they got closer it became more and more apparent that they were in fact going as far away from anyone as possible.

"So, what's the deal?"

"Well, first of all I think it's important to mention..", the doctor paused as he spoke, "that I've been given strict rules not to tell you any of this.", he managed to spill out. This, in itself didn't exactly help with Henry's fear of the entire situation.

"Okay, so then why are you telling me?"

"The arrow that shot your friend seemed to contain some sort of substance. It wasn't poisionous and it hasn't seemed to have done any damage, but lets just say it did raise a minor concern for us.". Henry listened closely. "So, my colleague and I went to go and take a look and.."

"And...?"

"We couldn't identify the substance, but it was definitely something we had not come across before. Ever."

Henry's stomach suddenly began to ache. An unidentifiable substance? There was no way that this could have been some sort of normal robbery.

"Okay, so why can't you tell me any of this?"

The doctor sighed. "Because when we told the managers, they told us to ignore it and to never mention it again. They didn't give me any reason why, they just told us we didn't have the right to."

 _Didn't have the right to?_

That was when they could hear footsteps. Someone was running towards them. And when Henry turned his head, it wasn't exactly who he expected.

"Jesus, the nurses said you'd be down here, what's going on?"

It was Jacinda.

"Nothing", he replied, "what is it?"

"Have you seen Lucy? I haven't found her anywhere.."

|PRESENT DAY, ?|

Lucy found herself waking up with a crowd of people around her, speaking quietly as she opened her eyes. They seemed to all be mumbling about something, something negative. But when she tried to isolate their words all she got was some sort of blur.

"H-Hello?"

Someone held out their hand, pulling her up before speaking to her. He wasn't exactly distinguishable amongst the crowd, but something about him made him seem nicer than the rest of them. Almost familiar.

"Hi there, you must've taken quite a hit. Do you remember what happened to you?"

Lucy shuddered. She wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. She'd always been taught that in these situations, the best thing to do was to try and find her mother and to try and find safety. She wasn't supposed to tell people about who she was, even if her life depended on it. But what was the use in that now? What was the use in everything her mother or her teachers had ever taught her in her life, when she knew that she was a long, long way from home?

So, she decided to say it.

"My name's Lucy."  
"Lucy.. that's a nice name. My name's Robin. Robin Hood."

 **[a/n: hECK YEAH im getting on to the part which i've actually wanted to write for quite a while.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry if my writing seems a bit off in this.. as you can tell I'm not extremely experienced when it comes to descriptive language lmao.**

 **Seeing as there's nothing else to say, I guess I'll see you soon? .-. ]**


	13. Chapter 13 - Belief

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

It didn't make any sense. Why, out of all of the things she could've tried to jog her memory, did she feel the need to remind her of Robin? Sure, maybe it did work out in the end. Maybe Regina did get her memories back. But how was she supposed to cope being reminded of all of it over again?

He was _dead_ , there was no way that still trying to deny the fact that he was would bring him back. She didn't care what that girl said or did, it wasn't possible. To her, to Regina, all the entire thing did was made her feel like shit.

But, even though there was no reason to feel hopeful, a part of her did. A part of her wondered if there was any way that what she said was true. Because even if it was utterly meaningless, she still knew deep down that she'd never stopped loving him. And despite trying to deny it, she'd do anything to see him again.

Although, there was no point in being hopeful. Not to her anyway. It all just seemed like a mess. And if it was true that this curse couldn't be broken, then everything was over.

 _'You were wrong, I can't get a happy ending'_

"Roni, you've woken up."

It was Henry at the door. Seeing him after getting her memories back was extremely painful. After all, she could never tell him what was going on. She could never even speak to him as her son. But, as usual, she decided to hide her pain behind the same smile. The smile that she'd learnt to pull off so well.

|PRESENT DAY, ?|

"So, are you actually going to tell me what's going on?", Robin said as she followed this 'Michael' down a wet, muddy path.

"Basically, before you came here you must've been hit with something. Most likely some sort of black-hole resembling.. 'thing'."

She knew this obviously wasn't correct, seeing as she was the one who made the black hole in the first place. But she couldn't exactly disclose the fact that she somehow opened what looked like a portal of death to a stranger could she?

"Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Okay, so, these types of things which are said to 'erase' us off the face of existence, they're actually not so uncommon. Believe it or not, all of the people here were once sucked up by one of those things. Some of them got into fights, some of them were generally unlucky in certain spells and some of them.. had more complicated situations.", he frowned.

"Okay then, so you're saying that all of these people got sucked in by these portal-thingys somehow and then got sent here? I'm sorry but, how many of you are there?"

"Well, this is where it gets a little bit difficult. According to our chief, we were all asleep for many years. Some of us, centuries. It all depends on when we got taken. But, ever since about a year ago, when someone screwed up the realm system, we've all been put here."

"Chief? What the hell is this, Lord of the Flies?" Despite not exactly buying what this guy was saying, she still listened in curiousity.

"No, basically our head. He knows almost everything about this place, makes sense of it all in some sense."

"And does this chief have a name?", she responded.

"That's one thing he hasn't made sense of. Nobody knows.", he shrugged. "Anyway, we're all from different realms.. or 'worlds' I guess you could say. We've just all been put in the same place due to certain circumstances."

"So, you're saying that at some point in your life you were blasted with some hole thing, you were asleep for god knows how long after and then you woke up here a year ago?"

"Yes. That's what he said."

"And you seriously believe everything that this guy says?", she scoffed.

"Well, what else is there to believe?", he sighed. It became obvious that she upset him, so she tried to back down from asking too many more questions about where she was. Anyway, all that mattered at that point in time was that she found Lucy and got out of this weird place.

"So, where are you taking me now?"

"The castle.", he said in a slightly more upbeat tone.

"Castle? What castle?"

"That castle.". He pointed in at the building in the distance.

"Holy shit.."

The castle, or possibly a palace, was extremely large. Robin stared in awe at the detail of the carved walls and the battlements at the peak of them. Even despite the ruined look of it, the arches and the shape of it was still perfect. It was just like something from a fairytale.

 _Speaking of which, haven't I seen this before?_

A few people guided Lucy to a small room inside of the castle she found herself in, and they asked her to sit down at a tiny wooden table in the centre. There wasn't much else there apart from a few paintings, so it became apparent that they only used this room for certain occasions. But, she wasn't sure what this occasion really was yet.

A man walked in, the same one who said his name was Robin Hood earlier on that day. Lucy wasn't really sure what to think about it, considering the fact that she knew the actual Robin Hood had died in Henry's book. There was a huge chance in her mind that he was a fake, or at least not the Robin Hood from the story she knew. But, she still felt as if she knew him from somewhere. She still had the tiniest suspicion that he was actually who he said he was.

"You're Robin Hood?", she said as soon as he walked in.

"Well.. yes, I am.", he paused. "Anyway, I'm here to a-"

"The actual Robin Hood? Like, that's actually your name?", she said as she leaned further forwards as if interrogating him.

"Yes, I am Robin Hood."

Lucy leaned back into her chair again, deciding to keep her mouth shut until he stopped talking. After all, she may as well hear what he had to say.

"Well, I'm here to tell you the reason why you're here and why you might be a bit confused. So, I think you should listen carefully.", he said as he sat down in front of her. "You see, before you came here you were probably taken by something, something pretty dark. Then, that dark thing took you here, to the end. And now that you're here, you're going to have to understand that.." , he hesitated, "that you may not be able to go back.".

Lucy sat there, denying what he said. "No, you've got this wrong. My friend, she has magic. She opened that portal and now she just needs to get us back."

"I'm sorry.", Robin sighed. "We've tried. You're just going to have to stay here for the time being."

Lucy shuddered. She knew that grown-ups could lie about these types of things. She didn't have to listen to this man. She could just find Robin and then go home, and then everything would be okay, wouldn't it?

"You're.. you're lying..", she began to cry. But he just looked back in pity. After all, there wasn't anything he could do. He knew that there wasn't any way out. He knew that there was no way of getting back to his life in Storybrooke. And he knew that the only to tell this girl that there was no way out, was by making her cry.

"Stay here, I'm going to get some people who want to see you.", he said before quickly walking out. Lucy stared at the door in front of her, before looking down and continuing to cry.

Michael and Robin finally reached the gate, and Robin instantly noticed something.

"There's no river?"

Michael, confused, turned his head towards her. "No, why?"

"I just.. thought there'd be some sort of river or moat around this place. Don't ask.", she said.

"Well, there's no water here so that wouldn't be possible."

Robin originally considered asking why there wasn't, until she remembered how weird this place was to her and realising there wasn't much of a point.

The gate opened in front of them, and she noticed that two women had lowered it for them, like palace guards. Michael then led her to the centre of the bailey before quite a few people began approaching them.

"You must be new here", one of them said, "may I offer you some dinner?"

Another person spoke to her. "Could you tell us how you got here?"

A crowd started forming around the pair of them, before someone opened a pretty loud and obviously heavy door from the right of all of them. They suddenly went quiet.

"Everyone stay back.", he said whilst walking towards them. Michael ended up working forwards as if meaning to have a word with him.

"Michael, have you found them? Have you found the other one?"

"Yes, she's right here." he said as he turned and pointed to Robin.

"Good. Do you know where the Darlings are?"

"The who's?"

"You know, the couple who offered to be parents a while ago!", he annoyingly stated.

Michael groaned. "I'm sorry, that was ages ago. I'll catch up with them later."

Robin grew impatient. "Excuse me, can someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

They both became silent for a second. That was until they heard footsteps from behind them. It was Lucy.

"Lucy, there you are! Christ, I was worried about you!", Robin beamed happily. Finally, she knew she was safe. Lucy ran up and hugged her.

"I was worried too!"

Michael turned towards him again. "Look, I'm really sorry. I'll catch up with them as soon as possible."

"That won't be necessary.", Robin said after eavesdropping.

"What?", Michael simply asked after hearing her.

Robin sighed. "If you're looking for adoptive parents for Lucy then that won't be necessary. Her and I are actually going to be making our way back home soon so you don't need to worry." she said before nudging Lucy towards the exit. "Anyway, thanks for the help."

"Wait!" Lucy said. Robin turned to look at her.

"What?"

"I.. I don't think we can go home yet."

It was only at this point that Robin noticed her eyes were red. Had she been crying?

"Of course we can go home, what are you talking about? I'll just have to figure out how to use my magic."

"No.", Lucy said, as if about to start crying again. She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to say what the man, what this 'Robin Hood' said to her.

"Lucy, what happened? Why can't we go home yet?" she said in a softer tone than before.

That's when she decided to let it out. "Your magic won't work. We're stuck here."

 **[A/N: Well, this chapter was a lot longer than I planned for it to be, but I hope you enjoyed it! Will update soon! ]**


	14. Chapter 14 - Suspicions

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Henry had left a couple of hours ago, presumably to continue helping Jacinda search for Lucy. She couldn't tell them what really happened, as much as she wanted to. After all, they'd never believe that she got sucked up by some sort of magic would they?

But, as much as Regina tried to ignore her emotions, she felt quite depressed about the whole thing. None of this was fair to her, nor was it to them. She hated the fact that a few weeks ago, life was so much easier. Despite being under a curse, she at least didn't have to deal with anything in her past. She didn't have to remember any of the pain she had felt. And, she didn't have to suddenly relive Robin's death.

She'd tried to tell herself that she was over it beforehand, but as soon as that girl, who turned out to be his daughter, brought it back into her head she'd realised that there was no point in trying to deny it anymore. She'd always missed him.

"Afternoon."

She looked towards the door from her hospital bed, only to find the person who she'd been waiting for, for what seemed like a century. Detective Weaver. Or should she say, Gold.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Poking around, sorry it took so long.", he responded. It was so obvious that he'd been awake for a while now, just from his slightly annoying voice.

"Yes, you should be sorry. For all of this.", she snapped at the end of her sentence.

"Sorry for what?"

"For not doing something! For not making sure that something like this didn't happen. Even when they were pulled into that demonising hole you could've done something other than stood there like an idiot!"

"What could I have done?", he responded. It was at that point when Regina realised that he was right. There wasn't anything he could do, and she was just angry at him for the sake of being angry.

"I'm..sorry."

"It's fine. I actually just came here to wonder how you were.", he said in a weird tone.

She glared at him. "Seriously?"

"Well, yes?"

She paused before rolling her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Good, because whatever was in that poison must've not had it's effect."

"Poison?", she asked whilst slowly becoming a bit paranoid. She didn't remember noticing any poison before she was shot. Not like she would, seeing as it happened so quickly, but still.

"Yes, I heard from a few sources that there was some sort of substance on the arrow that you were shot with. The doctors claimed it was 'unidentifiable' so I think we can both presume it was magic."

She went silent for a second. It wasn't exactly reassuring knowing that she could have some venomous magic in here. Either way however, she didn't seem to notice anything.

"Well, I'm obviously fine so there can't have been any."

Gold sighed. "Well, I best be off then.". Regina opened her mouth as if to ask him something, but he left before she had the chance.

|PRESENT DAY, ?|

"Lucy, you don't seriously think we can believe these people, can we? They're probably just lying to keep us here", Robin whispered to her whilst the crowd behind them spoke quietly.

"I'm not sure but I don't think they're bad. Besides, even if we could get out of here, do you know how to use your magic?"

"Of course I d-", Robin hesitated in the middle of her sentence, ".. no, no I don't"

"Then, we're going to have to find another way! Let's just try and see what's going on here first, then maybe you'll figure it out.", Lucy slowly stopped crying and trying to be brave about it for once.

Robin, irritated, decided to go along with it, before turning around and speaking to the crowd of foreigners behind her.

"Okay folks, sorry about that. Listen I don't know what you had planned beforehand but Lucy and I have lots of questions and we're going to need answers so you better talk."

The man, or the one who claimed to be Robin Hood, spoke up. "That's alright. What's your name by the way?"

"I'm..", Robin hesitated for the second time in the past minute, "..Amelie."

A couple of people mumbled in the crowd in front of her before Lucy grabbed her shoulder. "What are you doing? There's no point in using that name anymore."

"Just, trust me on this okay? We barely know these people and for all we know they could be Belfrey's spies or something. Let's just go along with this, okay?"

Lucy nodded, before Robin turned around again.

"Amelie, are you sure that's your name?", Michael asked.

"I'm pretty sure I would know my own name mate. Anyhow, are you going to give us answers or what?"

The other Robin looked at her. It was almost as if he recognised her from somewhere, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Lucy was planning on telling her who he said he was, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for it. After all, if she really was more suspicious than she was then there wouldn't be much of a point. So she kept quiet.

"Okay then, let's move."

A small group of people, including Robin Hood and some other figures resembling castle guards sat down in front of Robin and Lucy. The room was generally quite similar to the one that Lucy had stayed in, except much bigger and much more decorated.

"Alright then, first question.", Robin blurted out. "How many different realms have people come from to get here, and if so which ones?"

"About 10 or 11, and they're mostly from different versions of the Enchanted Forest and the Land Without Magic.", one of them responded.

"Different versions?"

"Yes, there are different variations of every realm."

Robin seemed puzzled. "So, when you say variations you mean the same places duplicated and with a slightly different history?"

"Essentially.", Robin Hood responded.

"Does that, by any chance mean that there are multiple versions of.. the same person?"

"There are people who look the same as other people, and who had certain parts of history the same in some cases but nobody is the same person.", Robin Hood responded.

"Okay.. so I wouldn't be able to meet another version of me here by any chance then?", Robin questioned.

It was at that point when one of the many people interjected. "I'm sorry, is this really necessary?"

"Yes. Yes it is. Because Lucy and I need to find our way home and you need to help us."

Quite a few people sighed. Robin, already knowing what they were going to say, quickly made a statement. "Yeah, I know you think that there isn't a way about this place but, if you were to know anything about my.. well technically our overly complicated family, you would know that we don't give up easily."

Robin Hood ended up smiling at that. She reminded him so much of his old life, despite not knowing why.

"Anyway. Our second question: Who is this chief and when are we going to meet him?"

Everyone grew silent.

Robin, unamused spoke on. "Anyone going to tell us?"

It was at that point when one of the people in the crowd spoke up. "You can't visit the chief on your own."

"Why?"

"Well, no one can. It depends if he wants to see you or not."

"Seriously? You put all of your trust in this guy's theories and yet you barely even get to see them?" Robin disapprovingly said. The entire system seemed so stupid to her, it was difficult to believe they were actually following it.

"Just be quiet, please.", Robin Hood said.

"No, I need to know who indoctrinated you into actu-"

"Robin!", Lucy said from beside her in a harsh whisper. She then turned to look at the little girl next to her. "We shouldn't start arguing with them, we need these guys to like us!"

Robin pouted in annoyance. "Fine, you have a point.", she turned around.

"Okay folks, you know what? I have a deal for you. We'll stop asking you all of these questions tonight if you agree to give us some shelter and help us find our way to the chief so that we can fix this mess. Clear?"

A couple of them whispered to each other, obviously doubting that they'd ever 'fix the mess' that they had. But after all, there wasn't much else they could do.

"Alright then, you have yourselves a deal."

"Thank god..", Robin said in relief. Although she knew getting home wouldn't be easy, at least she was on good terms with these people.

"Well then, we best be getting something to eat.", Robin Hood said as they started walking towards the door.

"Oh yeah, about that..", Robin said before he paused in front of them.

"Do you guys have any food? We're kinda hungry."

 **[a/n: okay then! that wraps up this chapter! These notes are getting shorter and shorter each time because I have nothing else to say. Anyway, I really hope you're enjoying this so far and read on!]**


	15. Chapter 15 - Fear

CHAPTER 15 – FEAR

It didn't take long before a group of people sat around a fire to eat some food, and Lucy and Robin were reluctantly invited after wanting something to eat. Robin Hood was there as well, which Lucy got anxious over seeing as she hadn't told Robin of who he was yet. But she couldn't do anything to stop it. After all, they were just guests now.

Robin looked over at Lucy, whose eyes were dim and head was low. So after a while of silently eating some obscure meat that they cooked by the fire, she decided to try and cheer her up.

"Hey, I know this is stressful and you probably just want to go home but I promise we will find a way out of here.". Lucy said nothing.

"Even if it's hard and even if I have to figure out how to use magic without someone making me extremely pissed off that I do it by accident, we'll figure something out."

"I know..", she interjected. They both fell silent for a moment. "I just wish.. that it didn't have to be this hard.". Robin got sad looking at her upset.

"I just wish it wasn't this hard to get my family back together," she cried.

Robin wrapped her arm around the distressed child beside her. She knew life wasn't fair, she'd known that for a while. But she wouldn't give up on this. She'd never give up on giving Lucy hope.

The two of them were eventually led back to the castle, where they were surprisingly offered a room to stay for the night. It was only just as Robin was going into there after climbing down the stairs from the poor excuse for a washroom that Robin Hood passed her.

"Hey, you're that girl from earlier aren't you?", he asked.

"..Well yes.", she responded. She wasn't too sure how much she could trust this guy. "May I ask, why did they offer us a place in the castle? ..I mean, we're just passing by."

"Why wouldn't anyone offer a place for two lost girls to stay in overnight?", he responded.

After a short pause, Robin continued to ask more questions. "Tell me, your friend told me that everyone all from different realms came here after years of being practically non-existent. If this chief knows everything, then why did that happen in the first place?"

"I thought you said you would not ask more questions."

"Well, can you please just answer this one? Maybe just a few? I have the right to know", she pleaded.

He sighed. "Everyone here was trapped in some sort of dark void for years. Some for centuries. They were all taken by some form of darkness, mostly without explanation, and they've been considered dead ever since. But around a year ago, we all woke up in this realm and practically built an entirely new world here. We're not sure exactly why but the theory is that someone crossed realms when they shouldn't have and caused all of us to end up in the same place somehow."

Robin just looked blankly for a second, until she suddenly realised. "Oh.. it was Henry then!", she said under her breath.

"Who?", he asked.

"Oh, no one you need to know.", she quickly responded.

Robin Hood once again looked in confusion.

"Well, I best be off. I suppose I'll see you around.", he said after an awkward silence.

"Ok then. Goodnight.. uhm..", Robin said awkwardly once again, seeing as she didn't know his name.

Robin Hood paused, before turning slowly and answering her question. "It's Robin. Robin Hood."

For a second, she felt a spike of shock or anxiety run through her. Despite knowing that it couldn't be who she was suspicious that he was, in that single second the name shook her as if she'd been burnt. But, as soon as she brought her senses back, she put on a smile before closing the door behind her.

"Yeah, sure you are."

Inside of there, Lucy seemed to be waiting for her to come in. They were to sleep on what were practically stacks of hay, which were politely covered in rags. Although they weren't actual beds, they both knew it was the best they could do.

"Well, I guess it's time to go to sleep then.", Robin smiled before sitting down on the stacks in front of her.

"Robin?", Lucy said in a quiet voice.

"Yes?"

"Did he tell you his name?"

Robin once again began to feel more anxious as she said those words. Despite knowing that there wasn't anything wrong, she couldn't stop her mind from subconsciously fearing who he really was. But once again, she pulled a small smile.

"You knew it didn't you?"

Lucy looked downwards, as if feeling responsible for some sort of crime. But Robin didn't care.

"I know, you were probably scared to tell me. It's not him though, trust me. There's barely, barely any chance that it is. There's nothing to worry about". She ended up finding herself laughing at the irony of her last sentence, as if mocking herself.

Lucy felt a wave of relief rush over her. "Okay. You're not mad, right?"

"Of course I'm not! Now, let's go to sleep.", she said before blowing out the candle beside her and lying down.

The two of them spent a few seconds sitting there in the dark, ready to drift off into their dreams and forget about the rest of this unreal world. But Lucy then remembered something.

"Robin?"

"Yeah?", she whispered.

"Do you think.. do you think my mom is worried about me?"

Robin stayed silent, not knowing how to respond.

"Do you think they're looking for me?"

She then mustered up the best response she could find in her head, despite knowing that she'd regret it in a few moments and think of how pitiful all of her discussions were.

"Of course they are, but there's nothing to worry about. I promise you we'll get home soon. I mean, heck for all we know time might pass differently here. After all, it was dark when we were in the woods earlier wasn't it?"

Lucy didn't talk back. There wasn't much to say.

"Just..", Robin hesitated.

"Just go to sleep. We'll figure it out. I promise"

 **[a/n: that's all for today! Sorry this was kinda a short chapter, but I'm working on quite a bit at the moment so I didn't want to spend too much time on it. I'll probably include a lot more about the events in hyperion heights next chapter, so stay tuned :D ]**


	16. Chapter 16 - Ice

Regina, who had just been left out of hospital, was knocking on Henry's door. She wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't answer, but it didn't take long for that door to be opened.

"Roni, you got let out?"

She once again felt guilty talking to her son, as if she was doing something really wrong by not telling him what really happened, and that she'd in fact just used her magic to heal herself quicker. But she knew she had to stay strong and not say a word.

"Yes, it wasn't that major so I didn't have to stay for very long," she said, before walking into his apartment and turning towards him.

Henry was genuinely surprised. After all, it seemed pretty major at first so it didn't make too much sense that she was better this quickly. But that was the least of his worries at the moment.

"Have you.. heard anything about Lucy?", she asked trying to sound as convincing as possible. Henry got nervous thinking about it.

"Well, Jacinda hasn't seen her around anywhere. She's been frantically searching the entire city for her but with no luck. Some of the local investigators seem to think that she's a runaway but.. I just don't think that's something that Lucy would do.", he said miserably.

Regina had no idea how to respond. It was so distressing. Everything that had happened in the past few weeks had hit her like a hurricane and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't even properly talk to her son.

"I'm.. I'm sorry about that.", she quietly said, this time without making an effort to sound like somebody else.

Henry looked at her, concerned. It was as if she'd turned into a completely different person within the past minute. "Hey, don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll find her at some point. You should just focus on getting better at the moment."

She shook her head. "No, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired so I might go.". It was at that point that Regina realised that there wasn't really any point in talking to her son at that moment if she couldn't tell him the truth.

And after she quickly walked out of the door, Henry became concerned that she wasn't the person he thought he was anymore.

|PRESENT DAY, 'THE END'|

Robin opened the heavy door leading to the large courtyard, allowing Lucy to follow behind, which was full of people talking and listening. It was the morning after they had slept, and both of them woke up to the noise of the crowd in front of them. So it made sense that Robin felt the need that they both asked everyone what was going on this time.

"Excuse me?"

Everyone kept talking, not being able to hear Robin's shouting over their discussions. But she attempted to raise her voice.

"Excuse me!?"

Their voices slowly faded as they looked in her direction. She generally felt quite awkward with everyone staring at her, but that didn't stop her from talking.

"Hi, my friend and I were just having a pretty long rest and we seemed to be awoken by your pretty loud talking so in case you don't mind, could you maybe tell me what's going on?"

After a few seconds of quiet whispering, someone recognisable walked forward. It was Michael.

"Oh, it seems to be your lucky day, Miss."

"What is it?", she asked in return.

"Some of us are going to see the chief today. Fancy joining us?"

It was obvious what thier response was going to be.

Lucy looked at the forest around her, observing almost every detail. The trees looked almost dead, and the path that the group of them walked on had mud which was almost completely dry – as hard as rock. The place looked practically deserted. But yet, the people who she was surrounded with brought so much life to it.

"Robin?", she asked in a slightly less cheerful voice than usual.  
"Yes?"

"Does this mean that we may be able to make it back home?"

Robin honestly didn't really know what to say, but she knew that she had to keep her hopeful. "Of course. Of course we'll find a way."

Lucy put on a small smile.

As the crowd got closer and closer to an entrance to a smaller building, they begun to slow down as if expecting someone.

"Alright everyone. Stay back. Remember, this is the first time some of us have a chance of meeting him and I need to make sure that no one's going to do something stupid."

Robin recognised that voice, and when she leaned to look over the crowd she knew exactly who it was. Robin Hood.

She patted on the back of the person in front of her, who was a woman about 2 inches away from her.

"Excuse me, do you know what's about to happen here?", she asked in the most formal voice possible.

"Have you not heard about what's happening? Today's the day where some of us get to meet the chief for the first time."

Robin rolled her eyes. She'd heard enough about this chief nonsense already. "Okay but, are we all going in at once or what?"

"We all go in once at a time and we can ask up to six questions. Got it?", the woman said in a slightly irate tone.

"Yeah, alright." she said in response. She wasn't sure why she seemed so angry at her for not knowing, and she said it almost as if they'd been preparing for this moment for her entire life.

It was at that moment that she heard the door open and everyone formed a queue as a single person walked through. It became obvious that this was going to take a while. She looked at Lucy, who was standing closely behind her.

"Lucy, if we can't go in together do you want to go on your own?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll just wait for you to go in if that's okay.". She looked down shyly.

Robin smiled again, trying to keep as positive as possible. "Okay then."

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

It had been over a day since Regina went to visit her son and ever since then she'd been sitting around at home doing practically nothing but figuring out the mess that was currently going on. After all, none of it seemed to make any sense. The fact that they had gone through some sort of hole of nothing. The fact that Belfrey had completely disappeared. The fact that Amelie was so persistent about her remembering Robin.

Robin..

She genuinely got more worried thinking about it. Was there a possibility that he was alive? Despite knowing what Hades had said back then, she still couldn't help but wonder if he was and where he would be at that second. It hurt like hell thinking that he would've been alone and lost for the past six years.

But later on in the morning, she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, it was the person who she'd least wanted to see.

"Hello, Regina. I do hope you're doing well."

Lady Tremaine.

"What the hell are you doing here?", she said genuinely quite pissed off.

"I was just wondering how you were feeling. You know, after I shot you.". The bony woman smiled in front of her.

Regina looked in anger. "Fine, thank you. Now can you please tell me why you're here and what you did to Robin and Lucy? Because I need answers!"

"Oh, don't be stupid. I didn't do anything to those girls, Robin did. It was all her magic."

She paused. "Robin, can use magic?"

Belfrey laughed. "Well, of course she can stupid! Otherwise she wouldn't have been able to open that portal."

"Portal to where?"

The woman smiled once again, that deviant fowl smile that could send shivers down anyone's spine. "Nowhere that she'll be able to get out of."

Regina's face grew cold. There was no way that could be true.

"Anyway, Regina I actually just came here to request something."

"What?", she said without trying to punch this woman in the face.

"Well, it's quite simple actually.. Don't tell anyone what happened." she said in a threatening tone.

"Why would I not tell anyone that you've supposedly killed my granddaughter and her friend?"

"First of all I didn't kill them, and second of all if you do.. I'll tear everything you know and love apart.", she said in a dark voice.

She just stared blankly at her, not knowing what to do. She legitimately felt like screaming.

"Got it?"

Lady Tremaine slowly walked away from her, before shouting something.

"Oh, and also, you haven't.. well, seen anything yet have you?"

Regina didn't respond. Instead she just looked downwards.

"I'm going to assume that's a no then.. Anyway, it's best you watched out for that. After all, getting shot isn't something you can recover from easily. Even with magic."

She slammed the door closed.


	17. Chapter 17 - Fire

CHAPTER 17 – FIRE

 **[A/N: Sorry this took a while! Anyway, I watched Episode 10 in the middle of this and basically a lot has happened. There is now an actual canon version of Robin (who's cool, but isn't ginger which im mildly disappointed about as a fellow ginger… just kidding its swell) , who's 25 and also grew up in the enchanted forest. So my fanfic is no longer canon at all lol.**

 **Anyway, I have got to say though I never expected there to be a thing between Alice and Robin and I'm really not sure how I would fit it in the fanfic, but I'm actually really digging it. One scene and I already ship them (that's me hi). If I can figure out a way to fit something like that in here then I would, but like I said seeing as this fanfic is basically just an AU now it's gonna be quite difficult. Apart from that, I'll continue writing this as I was. Maybe I'll do a sequel where I include canon-based stuff more, who knows]**

|PRESENT DAY, END|

Once it was finally Robin's time to go and see the person who they all dubbed as 'the chief', she walked forwards as the door opened in front of her. She noticed that Robin Hood seemed to be standing right outside of it.

"So, you're getting your chance to speak to the chief then?", he asked a rhetorical question.

"I guess I was lucky.", she said in return.

She then suddenly walked towards him. "Look, whilst I'm gone I need you to make sure that Lucy doesn't go wondering off, okay?"

"What makes you think that you can trust me?"

It took quite a bit to think up the answer, seeing as she didn't even know herself why she would trust him.

"Because.. well, because you just seem like someone who's good with people her age I don't know."

Robin seemed confused and a bit paranoid that she seemed to notice something. "What do you mean?"

"Well, everyone else here seems like they could probably end up upsetting someone who believes that they can get back home from what I've heard. They're way too upfront about what they think is the truth. But you obviously knew how to talk to her when you did, when she first came here."

He looked paranoid.

"I mean, you seemed like you knew what you were doing. Did you have any children?", she asked.

It was at that moment where she realised that she'd probably pushed it too much on trying to confirm who this guy was. Sure, she tried to tell herself that there was no way that it could've been who she hoped he was. But it came apparent that they were both suspicious of each other.

"You're holding up everyone else, better go in", he said quickly before he watched her walk through the door in such a familiar way.

Robin was quickly greeted with a long hallway with high walls and no furniture whatsoever, which made her footsteps and breaths echo against them. After walking several metres down she finally came to a stop where she saw a rather large step in front of her.

"What's your first question?"

She looked upwards to see a chair, turned to the wall, obviously with someone in it. It came to her realisation that this was the person they called 'the chief', and this was the reason why nobody had seen his face before.

"So, you're the chief then?"

"Yes. Next question.", he said in a fed up voice

Robin was frustrated. "That wasn't my question!"

"Tough, you only have 5 left now.."

She made a fist before thinking up her actual question, and quickly stating it.

"Tell me, how do I get out of this place?"

She heard a laugh. "Seriously? They let you come to see me today? Sorry sweetie, but there's no getting out of here."

"Even with my own magic?". He paused at her second question.

"No one's magic can help us get out of here."

She thought carefully about her fourth question. "Okay, then what about magic getting us into here, would that work?"

"Nobody has the magic to open up a way into this place."

She knew he wasn't tell the truth. "So you're telling me that everyone here was sucked up by a black hole, and nothing else was involved?"

He hesitated. "Yes. Final question."

Robin quickly became angry.

"Alright then, when are you lying to me?"

She heard no response.

"I know for a fact that, that's not the only way in so why are you lying-"

"I'm not lying to you. Get out", he interjected

She slowly walked out, honestly wanting to pull a finger at the guy. She knew he was lying and that this entire system was garbage. How could they place their trust on someone like this? And who really was he?

She stormed out of the building, frustrated. What was she supposed to tell Lucy now? She wouldn't dare to let her hear any more false hope. Everything was a mess.

"Robin? What happened?", Lucy asked from a metre away, worried.

"We're going.", she said in response before grabbing her arm.

"What? Going where?"

"To find some other people who can help us. These guys can't do anything.", they walked off in the other direction of the castle.

"Wait! Stop!", Lucy shouted before freeing herself from Robin's grasp. "There are no other people who can help us!"

"Oh, come on Lucy don't be so blunt. This place is probably massive, there's bound to be some people who aren't as idiotic as they are.", she said, raising her voice at the end.

"There aren't", she heard Robin Hood say behind her.

In the midst of the following silence of the crowd, she turned around as if asking him to continue.

"There's no one else here, just us. Trust me."

"And what makes you think that I can trust you?", she replied.

Robin Hood was planning on saying something until he realised that there wasn't anything to say. There wasn't any reason for her to trust him, not really. And so, Lucy tried her best to stop her.

"Come on, let's wait for the others and then go back to the castle."

Lucy was taking a break to rest in her room. Robin had gone outside, claiming that she needed fresh air, and the world seemed quiet around her. But with that silence she couldn't help to feel more anxious about her mother. Was she still looking for her? How long had it been since they'd gone missing?

That was when she heard the sound of voices from outside of her room. She slowly opened the door and looked through the crack to see Robin talking to someone.. Robin Hood.

"I need to ask you something." Robin said in a stern voice.

"Okay, what is it?", he said back.

"How did you get here?", she spoke as her voice shook.

He went quiet for a few seconds, remembering what had happened. On the day that Hades removed him from the world he'd once known and on the last day in 'reality' which he remembered. But he couldn't tell anyone that. Hades would never allow it.

"The same as everyone else did. The world got sucked up by a black hole and I –"

"No!", she raised her voice. "You're lying…"

Fear shook him as she said those words. How did she know? There was no point in hiding it now.

"Yes. Yes I am."

Robin gulped. She was almost hopeful that he was her father, but at the same time the thought of it terrified her. What was she supposed to do after that? What was she supposed to say?

"Tell me..", she looked downwards. "No matter how weird or complicated the way you died was, and no matter how much you'll try to lie about it I need you to tell me this."

He looked at the teenager in front of him, in fear that he would have an answer to what she was about to say.

"Did it have anything to do with a crystal?"

Lucy closed the door in front of her, before trying to predict what would happen next.

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

Regina once again found herself working at Roni's after a short break. But this time, it was different. She was no longer the person who she used to be, the fun, untroubled yet cursed version of herself that she grew to like at the time. Although, that was the least of her worries.

It was at that moment when Jacinda slowly made her way over to her.

"Hey Jacinda..", she said to the miserable woman trying to seem sympathetic.

"Hey. I like your hair.". Regina was initially confused until she remembered that she reverted it back to it's old style, but she didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry to ask, but have you found out anything about Lucy yet?" she said in attempt to avoid unnecessary conversation.

"No, I haven't found anything..", Jacinda said whilst looking down, "I've called everyone I know from both in the area and out and they haven't seen her at all. To be honest, I'm personally quite suspicious of that 'Amelie' person who she started visiting, she doesn't seem to be around either.."

"I wouldn't worry about her. I'm pretty sure she said that she was moving back home after Lucy's party anyway which is probably why you didn't see much of her there.", Regina said trying to cover up the story despite wishing that she could tell the truth.

"I don't know..", Jacinda simply replied. "I just hope that she's ok.". It became obvious to her that almost everyone could tell how upset she'd been from the way that she'd looked. "Anyway, how are you recovering?"

"Good.", she said back continuing to lie. "I'm doing fine."

Not much longer later, Regina found herself making her way home in the dark. Despite it being like every other night, something once again felt different. The moon seemed to be much dimmer than it usually was and there were little lights around her.

That was when she realised that everything was dimmer, and not just reflecting the way she'd felt about that day. Everything legitimately looked darker and darker as she began to feel sick. It was at that point when she found herself falling to the floor in an unsettling dizziness and she began to lose her sense of the world around her slowly. It was only before she became unconscious that she remembered what Belfrey warned her, and about the poisonous arrow.

 **[a/n: well that's a double cliffhanger for you all ._.**

 **hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will hopefully not take as long as this one did lol.]**


	18. Chapter 18 - Answers

|PRESENT DAY, END|

Time.

She tried not to think about the possibility of losing track of it. Despite there being no clock in sight, the thought of time echoed in her like each tick of a second as she realised how much she'd lost track of it. How long would it have been up in Hyperion Heights? How much time would it take for Lucy and her to get out? Would they even be able to get out?

But then again, Robin was used to not finding the value of time. Time was the thing that always stole things from her, despite trying hardest to keep those things for herself. Even her father, the man who she'd just ran away from after realising who he really was, hadn't spent a single second with her until she made it to this place. And she couldn't help but think of how long it would be before she had to tell him who she really was.

However, there wasn't any point in waiting.

She found herself running back inside from the chilled wind of the outdoors, back to find Lucy. She couldn't waste that time any longer, not if it meant that Lucy was constantly upset about it. She had to find a way.

"What is it?", Lucy said after she slammed the door behind her.

"We're going to the chief. Tonight.", she stated firmly whilst picking up her jacket. "Get up."

"Why? What exactly happened earlier?", she said in a once again concerned voice. It was easy to tell that Robin had been pretty worked up in the past day.

Robin sighed, knowing that she may as well explain the truth now rather than keeping it to herself until the very last minute. "You know how we got to ask six questions?"

"Yes..", Lucy listened intently.

"Well, one of my questions was asking whether or not it was possible to do what I did when we came here. To open those portals."

"And?"

"He said it wasn't possible. Which means either he doesn't know that I was able to do it or he's lying and frankly, considering the fact that the people here put all of their trust in this guy I think he would know whether or not someone can use magic to get here."

Lucy was surprised. She never expected that the person who all of the adults and citizens around this place would trust, was just the person who they shouldn't. But she believed her.

"Okay, so what are we going to do once we get there?"

Robin turned the door handle and looked at the girl behind her. "Well, if he's so obsessed with the idea of people asking questions, we may as well get some proper answers."

|PRESENT DAY, HYPERION HEIGHTS|

It had been well over a week since Lucy had gone missing, and ever since then the world around Henry seemed to be imploding on itself. Jacinda was constantly busy and panicking whilst looking for her daughter and now Roni was in some sort of unexplainable coma in the local hospital. Everything just seemed unnatural, almost just like magic.

He chose to visit the hospital on that day, there wasn't much else to do during all of this panic anyway. As he signed in as a visitor and walked down the wings he soon found his way to Roni's assigned room, which Jacinda had kindly paid for, and when he entered he noticed a doctor writing some notes.

"Oh, hello there. You must be a visitor.", the man said under his breath. It was at that point where Henry recognised his voice, and realised he must've been the same doctor who he'd spoken to before when she'd been shot. When he turned his head towards him and gave a look showing that he'd recognised him, it only became more clear.

"Ah. I'm not surprised.", the doctor responded.

"Hi, I was wondering if you'd had any updates on how she was doing?", Henry questioned whilst looking over at his motionless mother at the back of the room.

"Well, to be honest we're not so sure.", he said back in a quiet voice. It was easy to tell that this wasn't the first time that he'd spoken to people in this way when updating them on patients, but Henry just hoped that he wouldn't have to become more serious.

"To be frank, it's quite odd. All of her organs seem to be running completely normally according to our monitors, but it's obvious that isn't the case..", he looked in her direction before looking back at Henry again.

"Really, it's almost like magic.", he said in a slightly harsh tone.

Without noticing the irony in his sentence, Henry was immediately reminded of their previous conversation.

"You don't think.. that this could have anything to do with her getting shot, or that stuff on the arrow do you?"

The doctor looked towards the window as if avoiding eye contact. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised considering the peculiarity of it. Frankly, nothing in Hyperion Heights seems to be in order at the moment."

He glanced back at Henry. "Either way, I hope everything will finally go back to normal."

|PRESENT DAY, END|

Both of them had managed to make their way out of the castle, supposedly without being spotted. As they walked along the deserted path that they'd recognised from earlier that day, the air around them only seemed to get colder and colder. Each step made their fingers more and more numb, as if it was a consequence of making their way out that night. But, after all, it was just a bit of cold.

Lucy looked downwards to her feet, forcing herself to walk. She had to tell Robin what she knew, and what she heard.

"Robin?", she asked

"Yes?"

"I.. may or may not have listened to your conversation earlier..". Both of them found themselves halting automatically. "I'm sorry.."

Robin wasn't really sure how to feel, but she didn't have the time to think about it. So she smiled it off.

"That's fine, you'd probably find out eventually either way. You were right you know, he is the person who you thought he was."

Robin continued to walk but Lucy stayed standing in her position, unsatisfied. "But is that really okay with you?"

Robin turned around, trying her best to avoid the conversation. "Of course it is. Come on, let's go". She paced herself whilst walking up the dreary, neverending path and Lucy shortly followed.

They arrived at the building about 20 minutes later, as their frustration only made them walk faster.

Robin swung the heavy door in front of her open, allowing Lucy to follow before taking strides down to where she found herself a few hours ago. It took the two of them a while before noticing that everything was dark, and there was not even a single lit candle in sight. Assuming that he was asleep, they began to speak in quiet whispers.

"Robin, how are we supposed to get answers if he's not awake?", Lucy said.

"I'm not so sure but I can imagine we'd have to do the logical thing. Wake him up", Robin responded.

"That won't be necessary."

The two of them turned towards the step that was beside them and looked up to the chair that was already infamous in Robin's mind. Once they did so, the wooden torches on the walls around them lit up in flames simultaneously as if an invisible wave of fire had hit them. The man, or the 'chief', was then revealed to be sat on the seat in front of them.

"I knew you'd come back. I just knew." , he said in a darkened tone.

Lucy shook in fear. It wasn't every day that she found herself in these situations.

"I guess there's no point in questioning it anymore…", Robin stated, "you're Hades, aren't you?"

"Yes, correct.", he said. This time he didn't seem to be hesitating to tell the truth. "And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if you were the person I thought you could've been either.."

It was at that moment where he stood up and looked towards them, finally revealing his face to the two of them. It wasn't obvious who he was, and Lucy couldn't exactly recognise him from Henry's book, but you could tell that it wouldn't be surprising if this man was behind everything they knew he was. His expression was what gave his identity away.

"No wonder. You have your mother's eyes."

"Shut up you arsehole.", Robin quickly responded. "Getting on to the point, I have some questions and you need to give me some answers, seeing as that's what you seem to love doing here anyway."

"Okay then,", Hades walked down the step to face them. "What's your first question?"

"Well it was going to be something else, but honestly I just have to ask.. if you can use magic which can unsurprisingly get you out of here, then why stay?"

Hades paused. It wasn't the easiest question to answer, and he sighed in annoyance. "You see, as much as I despise to say it out loud, you mother made it very darn well clear that I had no future in ruling Storybrooke or anywhere else that she'd known of, so what would be the point in trying anyway? Especially when I already have my group of followers down here. Don't you think it's logical?"

"Actually, I just think it's hilarious that you admitted to being an absolute power freak, it's not exactly logical."

Lucy continued to watch the two of them, hoping that it wouldn't end badly. The fire from the torches seemed to almost be roaring and the flames were getting larger with each sentence.

"Next question – why is my father practically serving you despite knowing what you did was wrong? I mean you basically killed him.", Robin scoffed.

"I don't know. Ask him", Hades said simply. The two girls just looked blankly in confusion.

"How is that an answer?", Robin said afterward.

"It's an answer because I don't know. I'm being serious here.", Hades stated.

Robin was concerned. If he was telling the truth, and if there was no notable reason for her father to help him, then why was he helping Hades anyway? Wouldn't that just make the situation for everybody worse?

"Okay.. well, how do we get out of here?", Robin said.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and the three of them looked towards the door. In front of them, they saw no one else but Robin Hood.

 _Shit. This is only going to get worse and worse.._

"What the hell is going on here?"

Hades smiled as if he was secretly having the time of his life. "Well, would you look at that? It seems the family reunion has gotten to you."

"What are you talking about?", Robin Hood responded. Robin continued to become more and more distressed knowing that she'd soon have to tell him the truth, despite not knowing why it made her distressed.

"Wait, you don't know? This is just getting better and better.", Hades laughed.

"Be quiet!", Lucy got the courage to say, "This isn't something for you to laugh about!"

"What isn't?", Robin Hood continued to ask questions.

This was when Robin realised it was time to tell him the truth. The hellish backdrop around them grew more and more unsettling and despite it being freezing cold outside, the temperature of the house felt as if it was burning her skin. Taking a deep breath, she spoke.

"There is a reason why I ran off after our conversation earlier.", she looked downwards. Robin Hood continued the wonder what she was about to say, whilst Robin didn't take long to think of how she was going to tell him it.

"I know you had children.", she shouted out quickly.

He stood confused. "Wait, you knew Roland?"

She shook her head. "No, no it's not that..".

Robin Hood suddenly panicked, almost as if he could tell what she was about to say from the upset expression she gave.

"I know you did, because one of them was me."

 **[a/n: Well, shoot… this chapter was kind of difficult to write and I hope it wasn't written to messily. Anyway, I'm going to try and update this more now that school is over and I have nothing better to do with my life .-. bye]**


	19. Chapter 19 - An Ounce Of Light

CHAPTER 19 – AN OUNCE OF LIGHT

 **[A/N: Sorry it's been ages, the Doc Manager kept giving me errors when I tried to upload but I think it's fixed now!]**

"That's…that isn't possible."

Robin Hood was in denial. There wasn't any way that this girl could be his daughter, but at the same time it made sense. And it made him sad. He had missed out on so much of her life and at this rate he probably seemed like a complete stranger to her. Had he really failed both of his children?

"Well, I'm afraid it is because otherwise she wouldn't be here would she?", Hades simply said back.

Robin looked awkwardly down to the ground, not knowing what to say nor do next. She also felt uneasy about it, but she knew she had to say something. "It's true. It may be hard to explain, but it's true.."

"If you're really telling the truth then how many years has it been since I died?"

"It depends. If you're talking about the land without magic it would be 6.", Lucy responded out of nowhere.

He still couldn't quite make sense of it all. "Who are you supposed to be then?"

"Look, I don't mean to interrupt but I wouldn't mind if you possibly delayed this heart-wrenching conversation for another time and if we could perhaps continue from where we left off?", Hades interjected as he looked over at Robin.

"What do you mean?"

Hades sighed with the lack of motivation. "Look, to cut the story short, there is a way to get out of this place but I can't guarantee how successful it would be."

"You're being serious?", Robin said back. "You're just going to let us out?"

"Yes.. well under certain conditions.", he said back.

Robin Hood was unconvinced. How could he just let them out this easily, after all of the time he'd spent trying to gain power down here?

"What conditions?"

"Well, that you agree to take me along. And no one else.", Hades stated.

Robin was annoyed. She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't just leave her father down here after finally finding him. After all, despite barely knowing him he was family. And that was one of her main priorities at that point.

"That's not going to happen.", she said back.

"Well, that's going to be a tough one then. Even if you do try to bring Robin here through, it's not going to work."

"Why?", she said impatiently.

"Because in order to get people out of this place you have to use the Olympian crystal, currently hidden in the basement of this house, and if anyone who's been struck by it touches it in order to escape, they'll die in the process.", he said back.

"But you don't have to touch the crystal to go somewhere, do you?", Lucy asked. "Can't you just aim it at someone?"

Hades raised his voice. "Look at this place, do you think that there's any way that those types of beams could travel in this air? Nothing here can support the flow of the crystal's beams. Nothing physical anyway, there isn't even water."

Robin became disappointed, knowing that there really wasn't any way in bringing her father back. It didn't take long for her to wonder why she even thought about the possibility of it anyway, considering the fact that he was already dead. Even down here, he was already gone and had been gone for a long time.

But, at the same time, she'd still do anything to get him out. People needed him. She turned to face her dad.

"There's got to be something we can do."

Robin Hood looked at her in frustration. There was no point in denying it now. This girl was his daughter and he'd not only missed out on her entire life, but now he would once again find himself saying goodbye to her. "I'm sorry.."

It was at that point when they wondered what the point of hoping really was in the first place.

Robin had walked outside, claiming that she wanted some fresh air, whilst Hades had left Lucy and Robin Hood to hopelessly sit down. Robin Hood wasn't exactly happy knowing that his fate wouldn't change, but at the same time it just seemed pointless to think of it any other way. He had been gone for so long, and he'd probably been practically forgotten by most of the people he'd spoken to in his past that a part of him didn't think there was any point.

"I'm sorry about what happened.", Lucy quietly stated after the two of them had stayed silent for minutes on end.

"It's alright, I knew it would have probably turned out like this anyway.", he said back attempting to smile.

"I wasn't talking about not being able to leave.", she said trying to be clear.

"What?"

"I was talking about how you died. In the land without magic."

He looked at her in confusion. "How do you know how I was killed?"

"Well, it says that Hades tried to erase you when you tried to save you and Zelena's baby and that doesn't sound great."

"Where does it say that?"

"In the book.", she said as if it was obvious. "In my dad's book."

"What was the title of this book?"

"Once Upon A Time by Henry Mills. It has all of the stories and people from Storybrooke in it, including you."

He quickly realised that it couldn't have been any other book, and it made quite a lot of sense. But now knowing that Henry had published those stories made him want to ask more questions. He was originally going to ask how she could be Henry's daughter, although that was when he realised that he had another question he wanted to ask. Something he'd wanted to ask for a long time, despite thinking that he'd never have an answer to do it.

"Tell me, can you remember what happens.. after I die?"

Lucy looks away, feeling the need to think about what to say even though she had read the book thousands of times and she didn't really need to think about it. It was just that something made everything seem very sensitive and almost sad.

"Well, after you died, Regina manages to convince Zelena that she's not right by siding with Hades and she ends up killing him. And then..", she didn't know how to continue for a moment. "..and then Zeus manages to find a way to bring back Hook from the underworld and that makes things a bit better but everyone was still upset about you leaving. Roland was adopted by someone as well I think, but I can't quite remember."

He didn't have many words to say after that. Of course he knew that everyone thought he was dead, but hearing about what happened even in the tiniest of detail still made him upset. He was also upset about his son of course, even though he knew that he was looked after. Although there was one person in particular who he wanted to know more about, one person who he'd never dared to have forgotten over the time he'd spent there.

"Do you know what happened to Regina by any chance?"

Lucy sighed, not knowing what was necessary to mention except from one thing.

"Well, she was like everyone else of course. She was sad."

He looked at her, wide-eyed as if wanting to know more of the story, but he couldn't really ask for more from someone as small as her. It wasn't easy knowing that Regina would've been upset about him passing on, and he'd found himself thinking about her and Roland almost all of the time when down here. The fact that he'd just lost the chance of getting his old life back again just made it worse and worse. What was he supposed to do with his life now?

"That's it!", Lucy shouted out of nowhere. He looked at her in confusion before she ran straight outside.

She saw Robin standing in the cold, looking into the clouds that her breaths made. "Robin, I've got an idea!"

Robin turned to see her and quickly responded in the remaining hope she had left. "What? What is it?"

"Hades said that nothing in the air could support the flow of the crystal's magic, but what if it doesn't have to be in the air?"

"What are you talking about?", Robin asked back in confusion.

"It's obvious! Think about it, when Hades told you that there was no way of getting out he was getting rid of your hope, right? But what if we need that hope. What if we got all of the people here to find hope that they could escape this place and then the magic could pass through everyone, including Robin Hood?"

Robin had begun processing what she said, but it didn't seem logical to her. "Look, that's not a bad idea I have to admit, but it seems way to ambitious."

"But we have to do this! When your dad was talking earlier, I realised something. If it's true that you were brought to Hyperion Heights to break the curse then this must be the way that you do it! If you bring Robin Hood back then he could give the true love's kiss to Regina and it could break the curse!"

Robin frowned. It still didn't seem possible to her, and she wasn't sure what she'd do if it didn't work, but then again she knew they had to try.

"Okay then. Let's do it."


	20. Chapter 20 - Your Truth

**[A/N: For those of you reading on , I was having problems uploading yesterday so I'm sorry if these two chapters are very late! I've tried tweeting FictionPress to see if it's a server issue (which isn't unlikely) but considering the fact that it was Boxing Day I'm not surprised if they don't respond. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!]**

|PRESENT DAY, END|

It was early morning by the time all three of them were almost back at the castle, and both Robin and her father were doubtful that they'd succeed in not only getting him out, but everyone else out, they had to at least try.

So by the time that they had gotten out of the withering forest and into the courtyard of the castle, Robin Hood had managed to gather up as many people as possible to come and listen to them.

"Everyone, please listen. We have something important to tell you.", he stated. He was about to continue until realising that he had no idea what to say, and he looked at both Robin and Lucy in embarrassment. Robin then sighed and stood forward.

"I think to put it lightly, we're going to get everyone out of here. Out of this place and back into your own lives. But the important thing is, and this may sound slightly weird, but we're going to need you to get as many people as possible to believe us."

People around them shook their heads and it became obvious that they didn't exactly see the logic in what they were saying.

"I know what you're thinking. But if there's anything you need right now, and if there's anything I've learnt from being here, it's that all we need sometimes is hope. Hope that we can fix what has been broken.", she said before smiling at her father beside her.

"Sometimes we just have to take things the long way round."

It didn't take them long before the three of them set out to go back to the house with the crystal in it, but right before they left someone with a familiar face made their way up to Robin.

"Are you serious? Are we actually going to make our way out of here?". It was Michael, who Robin was frankly surprised to see after so long.

"Yes, well if it works which we highly doubt it won't.", she partially lied. She then remembered that he had never properly introduced himself. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you get down here anyway?"

He sighed. "Well, it was just like almost everyone else here. I was meant to save my girlfriend from a sleeping curse before I was pulled into this cloud of black smoke out of nowhere."

"From a sleeping curse?", she said back.

"Yeah, she'd been in one for quite a few years and I thought I could save her.", he responded. Robin quietly laughed under her breath after realising the irony of the situation.

"So you must be another Prince Philip in that case.. that makes a lot of sense"

"Prince what?", he said back in confusion.

Robin remembered to get back to the point after that entertaining realisation. "Nevermind. Anyway, it sounds odd but I'm going to need you to make sure that everyone is kind of in the same place at the same time?"

"Why?", he said back in confusion.

"Just.. a higher success rate.", she said back before slowly walking backwards, "anyway I need to go."

"Wait..", he shouted back, although she had already begun running through the woods to catch up with both Lucy and Robin Hood.

Michael then became suspicious of whether this plan was actually going to work or not, considering how unsure she had acted.

After walking as quickly as possible, the three of them had finally made their way to Hades' house, where the crystal awaited. It didn't seem logical, but it almost seemed like the place had gotten a little warmer from the fire since they had left, even just from standing in front of the door.

"So, what are we going to do? Just break in and undoubtedly let him know that we're here?", Robin Hood said.

"Well, if he thinks that if only us two are going to get out, he may just be fine with it, right?", Lucy spoke up. The three of them paused for a second.

"I guess we'll have to see what happens.", Robin Hood said before slowly opening the door.

The three of them walked in, trying not to make the floorboards creek hysterically before immediately seeing Hades in front of them. It almost looked as if he was waiting, as if knowing why they were coming.

"So, you've finally accepted the truth.", he said to the three of them before turning his head. "Follow me."

They were quickly lead down a narrow staircase cluttered with boxes and filled with dust. Nothing was clear down there, except one thing sitting in the middle of all of it. The crystal.

Lucy observed it. The shining, deceiving weapon was far more realistic and far more threatening than anything she would have seen in a book. But knowing that it could bring her home made her more curious than afraid of it.

"All you two have to do is hold it in your hands before shaking it. At that point I'll come over and touch it before it would presumably take us wherever you two long to go the most, and then.. I suppose we all get what we want."

Robin looked at it, determined to finally get everyone out, but there was something she needed to say first. She turned towards her father.

"Look, there's something I think I should tell you before we do this, and in case we don't all get out of here."

He looked at her, longing to hear what she wanted to say. "Okay, tell me."

"I don't remember much of what happened when I was younger – in fact I don't remember any of it at all. But I do know this: After you passed away, it was at your funeral where my mother came up with the idea of what my name would be. What my actual name would be."

"Alright, so they called you Amelie then?"

Robin smiled. "No, they didn't call me some random character from a movie, that would've been pretty weird.", she paused, "they called me Robin."

He looked at her, almost happy and sad at the same time. It was an unexplainable feeling to know that they named her after him. He ended up quickly hugging her and Robin almost jumped in surprise.

"I'm sorry I missed out on everything. I'm sorry I was never there to see you grow up or to teach you how to live your life.", he stopped for a second, "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be your father."

Robin smiled. "It's okay, it was never your fault anyway."

She then turned towards the crystal, ready to get going with her plan. Both Lucy and her walked towards it, before Robin hovered her hand over it and looked up at Hades.

"You know what? I'd like to thank you.", Lucy said.

Hades looked at her confusedly. "Really?"

"Yes. Because without you, I wouldn't have realised how much getting rid of someone's hope can do."

It was at that moment that Hades realised what they had done. It didn't take him too long to get angry, as he attempted to run towards the crystal and snatch it out of their hands. But at that point it was too late, they had already held it up and it was already glowing, spreading it's power across the realm.

"I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill all of you!", he said in rage.

"Yeah, good luck with that."

The world around them flashed like lightning as everyone in sight had disappeared.

 **[A/N: finally I can get on to the outlawqueen part lol**

 **Honestly, writing emotional moments makes me cringe. I'm not sure why, but I'm generally one of those types of people who cringes at everything like that x) but either way I'm really enjoying writing this and I'm glad that you guys seem to be enjoying it too!**

 **The next chapter should hopefully come very soon, although I do plan on doing some more planning before getting started on it (in case it hasn't become obvious by the poor flaws in the storyline, I didn't do like any planning for this which is part of the reason why I may not do a sequel or at least one very soon lol).**

 **Stay tuned!]**


	21. Chapter 21 - A Notion

CHAPTER 21 – A NOTION

Robin Hood opened his eyes as he breathed in the cold, unfamiliar air around him. Something was different about the world he saw. Whilst he would usually wake up, remember his previous life like a dream, and then carry on with the infuriating reality he'd known – this time that dream didn't fade. He was in the real world again, and everything he'd once lost was no longer missing. But little did he know that there was a chance of losing some of those things again.

"Dad?". He heard a voice say from the left side of him. "Are you awake?". He blinked a few times before slowly sitting up.

"Come on, we need to get to Roni's.", Robin said to him.

"Who's?", he said back in confusion. Robin sighed, quickly realising that there was a part of this ongoing story that he didn't seem to know.

"Another curse?"

The three of them were walking down the pavements of the busy streets of Seattle. The air around them was foggy and unclear, but Lucy could still direct the rest of them to where they needed to go.

"Yes, there was another curse and it's going to take a long time to explain everything but you need to break that curse and I need to see my parents.", Lucy said whilst turning towards them.

"Okay, so all I need to do is kiss Regina and then the curse is broken?", he asked back.

"Well, yes theoretically. But then again it also has to be a 'true love's kiss' and technically I have no idea whether you have to take some sort of special precautions for that type of thing.", Robin stated whilst hastening her steps to catch up with Lucy, who obviously wasn't happy with her negativity.

"Robin, this is going to work!", Lucy shouted impatiently before finding herself next to the front door of a familiar bar on the side of the street.

"Okay, I'm just saying that if Regina doesn't have her memories then how is this supposed to pan out?", Robin questioned. Her father then stopped walking behind her.

"She's cursed too?", he asked disappointedly before Robin gave him a reassuring look.

"Don't worry about it. If this doesn't work, we at least have time to figure it out."

Lucy opened the surprisingly heavy door in front of her, before, to her surprise, seeing both of her

parents inside.

"Lucy!? Where the hell have you been?", Jacinda shouted as she ran up to her daughter and held her

in her arms. Henry also found his mouth gaping as he saw her.

"I'm sorry mom. I missed you.", she said whilst smiling in relief, "It's going to take a while to explain,

I'm really sorry."

"A while to explain? You've been gone for weeks!", Henry said.

"Weeks?"

They looked towards Robin who had just spoken up. Jacinda walked towards her in anger.

"It's you! Can you please explain to me where on earth my daughter has been?", she shouted. Robin walked backward and raised her hands as if surrendering.

"Okay, I know what this looks like but I swear this isn't what you think it is."

Lucy walked towards her mother. "Mom, it's okay, she didn't kidnap me.. she helped us get out.". Her mother proceeded to look at Robin in suspicion. Nothing had been the same ever since she'd come here. Even if she couldn't quite put her finger on the exact reason, everything seemed a little bit off. But at this point, she was just happy that Lucy was back home.

"I'll make it up to you at some point, I promise.", Lucy said. Jacinda smiled despite being confused.

"Make it up to me? I'm sure none of this is your fault.", she said back.

"It doesn't matter. I'll still make it up to you." she smiled back.

Robin Hood stepped forward from silently watching. "I'm sorry, nobody happens to know where Roni is do they?". The four of them turned their heads to them, and both Jacinda and Henry looked pitifully.

"I'm sorry, do you not know? Roni's been in the hospital for a while now.", Henry said back.

Robin Hood looked in concern. Neither Robin nor Lucy had told him about this, so they must've not known. So what happened?

"In hospital? Why?", Robin questioned.

Henry was about to speak until he was interrupted by someone behind him.

"She's in a coma unfortunately. I'm surprised you didn't know.", it was Ivy who seemed to be working at the bar for that moment. They looked towards her.

"Did you want to go and see her?"

 **[small Important Author's Note – FYI in this fanfic, if the curse breaks Henry doesn't die. I started writing this before we found out why the curse was hero-proof. It's also why the role of Ivy and Belfrey is slightly different and why some things may not make much sense when referring to what's canon. Sorry about this!]**

Robin, her dad and Lucy begun following both Ivy and Henry down the streets. The air was still cold and misty but they were somehow able to trace their way forwards.

"So, you're Lucy's father?", Robin asked Henry suddenly out of context. Lucy looked towards the ground in embarrassment but Henry just laughed. "No, I'm not."

"Oh, so you're just a friend of Jacinda's then?", he asked. Lucy smiled.

"You don't recognise him?", she said back.

He tried to think about it for a second but he couldn't remember seeing him before. "No, not really."

"Henry Mills.", Robin stated. Her father glared at her, back at Henry at then back at her again.

"You're not being serious are you?"

"We're here.", Ivy said before pausing in front of the tall hospital building. Robin Hood felt a spike of nervousness when looking up at it. "Henry should be able to take you to her."

Henry turned towards Robin Hood in confusion. "Where do you know her from anyway?"

Robin Hood paused before coming up with a reasonable response for the situation. "Let's just say I'm an old friend."

Henry shrugged and soon let them follow him through the building. Most of the floors seemed to be filled with people, waiting with frustration and obvious boredom for visits. But it was when they got to the third floor, the floor that Regina was supposed to be on, that they noticed how quiet it was. It was as if nobody even knew the place existed.

"Does anyone else notice that it's weirdly quiet up here?", Robin asked. She luckily hadn't been inside of a hospital building more than once or twice but she still felt as if something wasn't correct. In fact, all of them did.

"Let's just keep walking," her dad responded becoming impatient. The four of them continued to hastily make their way down the ailes.

But that was when someone walked in front of them, someone obviously trying to stop them from proceeding. And that someone was Victoria Belfrey.

"You're not going anywhere.", she said harshly. Lucy sighed in frustration before Henry spoke up.

"Why? What's going on here?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Belfrey said back once again speaking as loudly as humanely possible without shouting, "I'm not letting you break this curse."

Robin walked forward, glaring at the woman in front of her. "Why? Why won't you let us through?"

Belfrey became obviously more frustrated. "Because I simply cannot allow it."

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?", Henry responded.

Belfrey rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Go downstairs, Henry. This isn't your problem."

Henry took a suspicious look at both Robin Hood and Lucy before slowly turning around and making his way towards the elevator.

"You know the reason why I'm not going to let you do this, and there shouldn't be a reason to discuss it!", Belfrey shouted.

"Look, I think she's made it pretty obvious that we don't so you may as well explain what's going on here.", Robin Hood said back in frustration before everyone fell silent for a moment.

It was at that point where Lady Tremaine gave up on her fighting and decided to briefly cover the situation. After all, it wouldn't take a few sentences.

"If you break this curse, there's going to be no chance of saving Anastasia."

Robin suddenly dropped the threatening look on her face as she became legitimately confused.

"Anna- what?"

"Anastasia.. isn't that one of Cinderella's ugly sisters?", Lucy asked as a rhetorical question despite knowing the answer.

"Ugly sisters? She's my daughter and this curse is the only way I can bring her back to life!"

"I'm sorry, but how could a curse possibly save someone's life? I'm pretty certain it would do the opposite than saving..", Robin Hood replied.

"Because it will, alright? And I cannot have people like Regina trying to stop me."

"Okay, I know I've technically been dead for a few years now, but I'm quite certain that Regina would not try and stop you from saving somebody's life. Cursed or not, she's not that type of person." he said back

"Yes, and even though you did try to kill Lucy and I, you may as well at least tell us why she'd want to in the first place.", Robin followed before the three of them waited for an answer.

But it didn't seem to come. The old, unknown woman in front of them suddenly looked lost.

"Well?", Lucy said.

"That's the point."

The three of them turned around to hear Ivy's voice echo from a few metres away.

"She doesn't know why."

 **[a/n: So sorry this chapter took so long! I got very stuck with where the story was going (bad planning before writing this) and it took me a while to come up with a reasonable explanation. Anyway, nearing the last chapter I'd like to say thank you for all of the support that this fic has gotten! I never expected this many people to actually read it lol.**

 **Next chapter should hopefully come much sooner than this one did.]**


	22. Chapter 22 - A Reason

"How is that possible?", Robin Hood said back.

"Because it is.", Ivy simply replied before making her way towards them.

"No.. but it isn't because there's no reason for someone to hate another person without knowing why.", Robin said back.

Ivy unusually smiled. "That's the point. She has no reason for putting Regina in a sleeping curse, has no reason for trying to erase you and Lucy from existence and has no reason for any of her actions so far." She paused as the three of them stared at her as if she'd just said something crazy.

"It's one of the many flaws in casting a curse. People will do things for no reason, even if they think they have one. But deep down my mother always knew.", Ivy responded. Her expression was almost miserable, showing fractures of regret and guilt as she spoke.

Robin Hood couldn't seem to help but recognise it, and despite not knowing her for incredibly long he knew he recognised that look. The constant look of guilt had reminded him of someone who he became closer and closer to as they spoke.

"What are you trying to say?", he said back.

Ivy's hands begun to shake. She been preparing what to say and what to do for what felt like a century and with every counting second she became more and more sick of it. But this wasn't any other day. She knew this was the day everything would go back to the way it was. The innocent untainted reality that she'd once known.

"What I'm trying to say is I made a mistake. I made a mistake casting this curse.", she took a moment to breathe and allowed herself to wonder away from the eye contact that she'd made. "I thought this curse was going to stop all of the pain in my life. I thought it would finally give me the freedom I'd needed, away from my mother's jealousy and what seemed like favouritism for my sister over me."

Lucy looked at her with an unexplainable emotion. Was this the real Ivy? Was this the person who had always groaned at the mention of her name, and who her mother had always regretted seeing?

"But I was wrong. All this curse did was make things worse. In the end, it only made me feel empty. I disrespected everyone. I looked down at the people of this town like hypnotised, worthless human beings all because of some stupid curse. The more and more I think about it now, the more I begin to realise how much of an idiot I was."

"Drizella, I still love you-", Belfrey quickly said back before being interrupted.

"No!", tears begun to well up in her eyes as she looked downwards at the pitifully artificial floor. "I don't deserve that. I don't deserve that type of love after what I've done."

Everything surrounding them fell silent as she stood there silently crying. Even the distant sound of cars around them begun to slowly fade and the atmosphere became unexplainably nostalgic. Both Robin and Lucy showed nothing but bewilderment, unable to see the correlation between anything that had happened within the last few moments. Ivy's mother stood cluelessly, not knowing what to do or what to say. But Robin Hood had an idea.

He stepped forward, standing in front of the woman. "Listen to me. I don't know your story. In fact, I barely know anything about this entire world… but I do know one thing."

Ivy looked upward in curiosity before he continued speaking.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Some big, some small but even so, at the end of it all it won't matter. As long as you learn from those mistakes, you'll only become a better person."

She froze and the unsettling silence returned again.

"No matter what you do, you do deserve love. From your mother, from your stepsister, from anyone.. because at the end of the day… we're all people."

She begun to calm down before slowly processing what he had just said to her. And that was when she knew that she had to let it go.

"If you break the curse now, no one should get hurt. At least I don't think so anyway.", she said quietly.

"What are you telling me to do?", he asked.

"She's telling you to run.", Robin said to her father, before giving him a stern look. She knew Ivy wasn't lying. Something about the way she spoke and the way that she looked so empty made it believable enough to follow. And after all, they didn't exactly have much else to do now.

And that was when he ran. He ran down every corridor as his steps and breaths echoed against the walls. There was nothing that was going to stop him from finding Regina. There was nothing that could possibly get in his way.

And after quickly observing every door and every label, he finally found the room she was in. He opened the door and quickly found himself slowing his steps before seeing her.

He observed her pale skin and her eyes which had looked as if they'd fallen shut for so long. The hospital walls surrounding her attempted to make her look weak and frail, But despite their attempt, he knew there was nothing weak and frail about her. And when he leant over to kiss her, it didn't take long before she opened her eyes.

 **[a/n: bOOM! there we go guys I basically fixed outlawqueen. Well, there's still one more chapter to go but still!**

 **Anyway, wanted to take this moment to once again thank you guys for the support on this fic. I really appreciate the fact that many people have enjoyed this :D.**

 **Bit off context here but I do genuinely want to know what you guys think about this whole thing about Regina getting another love interest in 7B. I've heard rumours about it and I think I saw some images to back it up so it's not unlikely.**

 **Honestly, I'm genuinely not sure what I'll think of it. I think my favourite ship will still remain to be OutlawQueen genuinely because it was such a cute ship (and yeah I mean I've been writing a fanfic to basically fix it) but at the same time I don't think I'm completely against Regina at least getting a second chance. I'm still salty they had to kill off Robin for no reason tho ._. .Would be interested to hear your thoughts!**

 **Last chapter should be out soon!]**


	23. Chapter 23 - The Final Page

The light glared through the window as Robin opened her eyes and woke up. It had only been a few months, but yet she'd already become used to being woken by that sun each morning. She was living with her mother, Zelena, who had gone from being constantly worried about her daughter each day for the past handful of years to being content and happy with where she was. It made sense, after all. Between the two of them, things were still almost exactly the same. Robin was still preparing to go off to University, her mother still became irritated with the inability to use magic to do something as simple as switching a light on and Robin still hadn't found herself finding a boy attractive yet. But at the same time, they knew that almost everything was different.

They now lived in the incredibly infamous town in Maine known as Storybrooke, which was where the rest of their family was. And despite the fact that you could still buy overly salted fries for about $1 like you could in Florida, there were still more things unusual about the town than 'normal'. Just like that loud shouting she'd heard after waking up.

Sighing with annoyance, she got dressed, grabbed her backpack and quickly walked outside of her apartment, making her way to the docks. Once she got there, she saw Lucy looking out into the distance at the ocean.

"What is it?", Robin asked.

"Well..", Lucy looked down guiltily, "I may or may not have gotten Neal stuck on that ship which is now about 3 metres away from the shore."

Robin looked towards the ocean and held her hand above her eyes to see under the blaring sun. And yes, Neal was in fact on the Jolly Roger in the ocean, obviously struggling to come back in.

"Again? Seriously?", she rhetorically asked Lucy before grabbing her backpack and opening it.

"I'm sorry.. it was an accident I swear! He wanted to play on it and it kind of just.. left."

"Right…", Robin said before taking a bow and arrow out of her backpack. She then tied what seemed to be a very long rope to the end of the arrow, and begun tying the rope around the tree.

"You're going to try and pull it in like that again?", Lucy asked. "You know that broke part of the ship the last time."

"Well, despite the amount of 'enjoyment' I seem to be projecting right now, Neal over there is in danger and frankly this is the quickest option for someone who knows nothing about ships.", she said before picking up her bow. She then shot the arrow into the front of the boat before pulling the rope strongly.

"Oh hey, it's actually working a lot better this time.", Lucy pointed out. But that was just before a small bend appeared on a plank of wood.. and then that plank just so happened to break in two.

"Yeah, of course it is.", Robin replied.

Luckily it was close enough to the dock for Neal to jump up on to the ledge and he ended up running and screaming into the woods, following with the two girls giving off comedically confused looks before attempting a high five. Although, it was only an attempt, seeing as they heard someone shouting in their direction not long afterwards.

"Again? You broke my ship again?"

Lucy sighed. "Sorry, Hook. It was my idea.". Hook glared frustratingly at the two of them before looking at the Jolly Roger in utter disappointment.

"Can't you just get Emma to use magic to fix it?", Robin asked.

"I could do that, if it weren't for the fact that I would have to wait about an hour to do so."

"And.. is there a problem with that?", she said back

"Yes! Yes there is a problem with that!"

Both Robin and Lucy had absolutely no idea what to say.

"You two need to go.", Hook said back before the two of them quickly walked away.

That was an average morning for the two of them nowadays. Nothing too exciting, but nothing too dull either.

Lucy was just as positive as she always was. She had finally gotten the chance to live with both of her parents, and with it, she finally felt like everything was in the right place.

Nobody really knew where Ivy or her mother were at that stage. It was obvious that Ivy had learnt from the mistakes she had made, and had decided to remain in Hyperion Heights whilst she attempted to amend things with her mother. They could only hope that their lives would have eventually been sorted out.

Along with that, no one had seemed to have found Hades yet, nor found a way to see him. Robin's magic didn't work anymore, and nobody had really known whether everyone else in that realm had made their way back home safely. It wasn't the most reassuring thing knowing that he had once again taken tyrannous control over a realm and they could only hope that he'd learnt from his repetitive actions and stopped.

But, the positives definitely outweighed the negatives. Robin Hood was back, and Robin was finally able to spend time with him after a life of not knowing a single thing about him. Whilst it could be awkward and complicated, it was amazing for the both of them.

And of course, when it came to Regina's situation, she felt as if nothing could have been better. She had finally gotten the life she deserved after all of those years and was confident enough to think that despite all of the horrible things that had happened, at that point she would have never wanted to be a different person.

Everyone was happy with where they were and they wouldn't have wanted anything to change, and whilst there was never going to be a clear ending, they all knew that when things seemed hopeless, there was always another way round.

 **[a/n: It is done!**

 **Thank you so much for reading my incredibly cringy and poorly written fanfiction haha. I was originally planning on doing a sequel to this but really I don't think there's too much I could add anymore.**

 **I think it's pretty obvious by now that my ultimate goal with this fanfic was basically just to fix the awful mishap of Season 5, and the way that they basically just killed off Robin Hood for like no reason. OutlawQueen is probably my favourite ship from this show despite the ups and downs, and that scene really really annoyed me ;/ .**

 **Either way It's probably convenient that I'm ending this fanfic right before the rest of Season 7 starts airing, considering the fact that there are a lot of rumours of Regina getting a new love interest. I'm still not too sure how to take that, but I'd rather let this story be finished before another canon ship is introduced, just in case I don't end up minding the new ship (which is unlikely but of course I'll still prefer outlawqueen I mean cmon)**

 **Finally, thanks for all of the support this has gotten on both and wattpad! I really appreciate it! may also be posting this to Ao3 now that it's done.**

 **That's it for this fanfic, thank you for reading.**

 **p.s. it was totally unintentional that this fanfic had** **23** **chapters but frankly I'm pretty satisfied.. I mean, page 23? no? ok I'll stop]**


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